A Fishy Adventure
by Little Angel's Perk
Summary: What if humans weren't the only ones living on Earth? What if one of the Pilots were more than what they seemed? In a world of Chaos and Opression, human's aren't the only ones trying to save their homes...
1. Prologue

sneaks out of lurkdom hallo!

This is a new fic I am working on. Any comments or criticisms will be greatly appreciated!

Title: Untitled (for now)  
Author: Little Angel  
Disclaimer: I don't own gundam wing ;;  
Author's notes: see above  
Pairings: 2x1, 3x4, 5x6  
archive:

On with the fic!

The ocean is a wondrous place. Millions of different types of fish and aquatic animals can be found swimming at their leisure. While most think that seaweed may be the only type of underwater plant life, said thought is a big misconception. The green house of the sea has plant life beyond one's wildest dreams.

Humans may have the technology to delve into the darkest recesses of Poseidon's lair. However, that does not mean they know all of it's secrets. The lost city of Atlantis is just one of the mysteries adding to the lure that is the large body of water covering the Earth's surface. However, when men believed themselves to be gods, for triumphing over mother Earth, they found no traces of the legendary lost city.

Many believed the ancient city suffered a similar fate as the once great Titanic, corroding away in it's watery tomb. Although the more fanciful members of the human race believe who believe in the ancient Greek gods - and other such deities even though said deities defy all the laws of science - the world of Grimm's fairy tales, ghosts, spirits, the great beyond, the hero's of Homer's plays, say the mystical ancient city still exists in a place where man has yet to venture and probably never will. A place where the mysterious creatures of the sea are guarded from man's destructive touch.

Of course most humans would rather believe in the ways of their sciences and say that such mystical stories were just that - stories. A story made up to entertain a child's imagination. Most of the time the more "sensible" people don't even give such an outrageous theory a second thought. Especially the non believers who have their hearts set in absolute power. However, when one is trying to gain absolute power, it is wise to make sure you have all your bases covered. Even if it's something as silly and fanciful as guardians of the sea...

It has been over 100 years since man conquered the Earth - or so they thought - as they moved their vision skyward. This little over site suited the creatures of the sea perfectly.

AC 180

"We don't have any choice, things are getting out of control and we need to protect our people."

"But we don't know that they will find us! What if he gets caught or worse killed! You are willing to take that chance, but I'm not."

"My prince, we don't have the same security we did in the past. The humans are getting more and more powerful. They have all kinds of large robots in the sky as well as on the surface. It's only a matter of time before they make suits for the greater depths of the oceans."

"...I know..."

"Son," a new voice joined in the heated conversation, "As much as we don't want to do this, it is important for us to protect our only home against the greed and evil of the humans. Unless you would like for all of us to leave the water forever and ... live among those with two legs? Never to feel the joy of riding with our aquatic friends or explore the sunken ships of man..." The old kind didn't need to continue, as he saw the look of horror then defeat enter his son's eyes and stature. However, before he could comment arms of steel pulled his son into a reassuring hug.

"Duo, you know why I am doing this. I'm not trying to hurt you, but this mission is extremely important for the safety of our race." He kissed Duo's forehead and looked into his eyes before continuing.

"I love you, and I love our world and I can not just sit by watching as the humans take over, destroying the planet. You have to trust me to come back to you like I have in the past."

That was true. This wouldn't be the first time the humans had attempted something like this. Although, with every passing day they became more and more technologically advanced, which just made them more dangerous.

Duo knew he couldn't argue against this any longer. He didn't have to like the fact that his soul mate was undertaking such a dangerous mission, but he would reluctantly consed defeat for the time being.

"Why can't I come fight with you..." His voice was weakening, because they had this fight many times already.

"Sire, you know you can't go because you are the prince. Plus the odds of one of you getting discovered would be much higher."

Duo sighed again and pulled his other half against him, tucking his messy haired head under his chin and nuzzled said hair, "Hee-chan, if you go and get yourself killed, I will follow you to Hades' lair just to kick your ass then I'll kill you myself.

"Baka," although Heero's words were said jokingly, he knew his love meant every word he said. he just hugged the keeper of his head closer as well.

"Ahem..." The king looked over at his son and protector with a small smile on his face. The pair turned as one to look at him, not at all ashamed of their little display. "Heero, the people and myself are extremely grateful to you for taking on such a high risk endeavor. I know this is not going to be an easy task and we shall pray that Poseidon will keep you safe and return you to us like he has in the past."

Duo pulled his koi closer, he knew that even though Heero always returned, he wasn't his usual self afterwords. It would take Duo and their closets friends months to return Heero to his pre-mission state.

"Howard is waiting his his boat not to far from here. The ocean above us is "neutral" territory since it is part of the Sanq Kingdom. There will not be any military patrols around."

Heero nodded, "I shall go." He turned to Duo, "you take care of yourself. Don't make me sick Hilde after you."

Duo made a face, "ugh! She can be way to over protective! Worse than you when you leave like this!"

"Who's worse than Heero?" Said mermaid had stealthily snuck up behind Duo.

How Heero managed to keep the amused look off his face completely baffled his lover. However, Duo had more important things to worry about - like how to escape Hilde's evil clutches...

"Someone worse than Heero? Hilde! Would I ever say that! I don't even think it's possible..."

Heero chuckled to himself and gratefully used the distraction to make his escape. However, like Duo, he had a very bad feeling about this particular journey to the human world.

End prologue

C&C anyone? please review and let me know what you think!

This like how they were talking underwater, will be explained later in the fic... really...  
thank you again for reading,  
Little Angel


	2. And so it begins

Title: A Fishy Adventure  
Author: Little Angel  
Achieve: FFN under LittleAngelsPerk  
Warnings: yaoi,  
Disclaimer: I don't own them ;;  
Pairings: right now: 2+1… more to come!

If anyone can think of a better title or if you like this one, please let me know!

SPECIAL THANKS to all who read and reviewed! I hope you enjoy this next part! And to Onesan for giving me the title.

Part 1

A.C 190

Well within the Alliance Military one could find a person who was not held to the same standards as all the other soldiers or leaders. He had the potential to be the best and he would settle for nothing less. Most cadets and his fellow pilots called him the "Lightening Count" (1) for his ability to master any mobile suit given to him. He and his partner made the perfect team, each able to build off the others strengths and weaknesses. Some went so far as to say they could read each others minds. Under the leadership of General Trieze Kushrenada, the dynamic duo flourished in the Alliances Military.

So it was with great sadness when the best pair of pilots to ever grace the Alliance turned in their paperwork for a discharge.

"I don't suppose there is anyway I can change you minds?"

"I'm sorry sir; we feel this is the best decision for our future as pilots." It was coming apparent to some soldiers under Trieze's command that the alliance was falling apart from the inside. Many of the higher ups were being corrupted – or black mailed – by the aristocracy and their wealth. It was only a matter of time before the Alliance fell and a new group would attempt to dominate both the Earth and colonies.

"Very well then, Lucricia Noin and Zechs Marquiez, I here by honorably discharge you from the Alliance Specials Unit. May you find what you are searching for and unable to get with your time here in the Alliance."

Noin and Zechs saluted their former commanding officer one last time before making their way off the Alliance base never to look back.

Less than two minutes following the pair's departure Treize found himself in the company of another under his command. "Now Lady Une, please don't tell me you are her to resign as well."

"No sir."

"Good, I would hate to find another second in command so close when the curtain is about to fall."

"Sir, do you really think it was wise to let Zechs and Noin go? They may be recruited by the rebels and they have information about the Specials as well as yourself."

"Lady, peace is obtained through war. War is the act of two sides fighting against one another for supremacy. It is not my place to say who must fight on what side; it is up to each soldier fighting to make their own path, so they can live to their fullest potential. If I was to order Zechs and Noin to stay with the Specials they would follow the order. But they would not fight to their fullest and their hearts would be restless. I would not be a good general if those fighting under me weren't committed to the fight.

Besides, now I can rest easy knowing I have worthy opponents and many soldiers' lives will not be wasted."

Lady Une just nodded and made her way out of Trieze's office.

A.C. 190 Sweepers ship somewhere in the Atlantic

/Duo/

/What? I cannot just sit back and watch as not only you fight, but the humans try to take over OUR home/

The Alliance, under the financial backing of the Romefellar foundation, was making substantial leaps in developing underwater mobile suites. It was only a matter of time before the prototypes would be ready for testing.

Duo and the other people of the sea were monitoring the humans from afar. However, the threat was becoming too great for their home and something had to be done.

/Let me guess, you volunteered to be the one to stop the humans./

/Hell no! They don't know I'm here, well except for Hilde…/

/Hilde…/

/But she didn't have a choice! I wouldn't let her tell them! Please don't get mad at her…/

/…I would ask what you did, however, I know from personal experience that I probably don't want to know./

/Hey/ Duo looked indignant.

/I don't suppose there is anyway I can talk you out of this/ There was a desperate pleasing look in his eyes and tone.

/Hee-chan, I have to do this. You know that and need to except that you cannot shield me away from the human world forever. Just like I know that and except that you want to protect our world./

/I know…/ Heero cracked a small smile /But I can try can't I/

Duo smiled also and pulled Heero into a big hug. /I promise I'll be careful ok/ Heero just nodded.

"Howard," Heero broke the embrace and turned to the sweeper's captain, "can you guys teach Duo stealth and about the underwater mobile suit models?"

"Are you sure about this kid?" Howard turned to looked at Duo.

Duo glared, "Don't call me kid gramps."

"Don't call me gramps, kid."

"Duo," Heero stepped in to stop the inevitable fight, "we are what the humans would consider teenagers."

"But –"

"I know, just ignore it. They'll all do it. Trust me."

Duo sighed, "Yes I am sure about this gramps."

Heero shook his head, choosing to stay out of that particular quarrel.

/I have to go to space./

Heero's comment had the desired reaction of breaking the glaring contest between Duo and Howard. /WHAT! WHY? There isn't any oceans in space/

/I know. It's not that I want to go, I need to get a mobile suit similar to the ones the humans will use./

/Why can't you get one of the ones on Earth/

/This one is supposed to be better./

No creatures of the sea had ever traveled to the colonies. It was unheard of. They all knew of the humans ability to create and to destroy, and they didn't trust the technology the humans used to get to space.

For the mythical sea dwellers, visits to the surface were few in number as it was. Earth had a very different feel from the ocean. The water had a certain freedom surrounding it. Gravity was not forcing you to the ground and even though some currents could be strong, almost all the sea creatures knew how to avoid them or go with the flow.

Heero would be the first of their kind to go into space, so no one knew just what to expect. And it would probably be considered an understatement to say the pair was terrified by this turn of events. Heero, who had known for a few days, was still a little afraid of what would unfold in space. He wasn't going to tell Duo about the Dr. he was supposed to meet and he didn't give him much information about the mobile suite either. It wouldn't do either of them any good to be worrying over the other while they were supposed to be training. It was better if they had their attention focused completely at the task at hand. Heero would tell Duo about space after it was ok for them to return to their home.

That, and Heero was worried about how Duo would react to their when they were both in a human form.

When one changed their partner could still feel them. However, when the both changed the connection was only faintly apparent when they were touching. The mere fact that he was going to be on what can be considered another mini planet wasn't going to help matters at all. That simple bit of information was going to be more than enough for him and Duo to deal with.

/I know you're not telling me something…/

/You'll see when we get on the ship… Are you ready/

Duo nodded.

/You have your fin bracelet/ Again he nodded.

/Ok… brace yourself… and remember I love you ok/

Duo closed his eyes and pulled himself up onto the boat as Heero did the same. Their fins melted into legs, a small anklet around their left ankles. Many would think they were naked when they turned to their human form; however, that is not the case (2). Each was covered by black swim trunks.

The instant they both had their bearings on the platform, Duo turned and clung to Heero. /Why… aww crap./ "Why… no… you… feel."

"Shh, calm down, breath… It's ok… I'm right here… shh."

/Ok breath… no not that way! GAH! Stupid humans… ok… calm…/ "Heero, why can't I feel you? What happened?"

"Remember what I told you about the human world?"

"They… don't communicate like us…" Realization struck, "GODS! Heero! You can't go into space!"

"I have to." He pulled away, but only far enough that a hair could barely fit between them. Duo whimpered slightly but didn't move to embrace Heero again.

"The farther apart we are, the fainter our connection. I'm not sure what will happen when I'm in space…" He didn't continue the thought, but they both knew what could happen.

"Duo, there's still time for you to go back to our home…"

Duo took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "No, I have to do this also. I just didn't expect…"

"I know. You'll get used to it…"

"I really hope I don't…"

End part 1

(1) Anyone think that was Heero and not Zechs? ;;  
(2) hides from rabid fans xx;;

C&C anyone?

dodges thrown fruits and other assorted objects being hurled/thrown ;;;

Thank you for reading!  
Little Angel


	3. painful discoveries

ï»¿

Title: A Fishy Adventure 2?  
Disclaimer: I do not own GW… sadly…. ;; and this story is a figment of my imagination brought to life through the wide world in the internet and much writing.  
Pairings: 21, 34

AN: I am sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed, your comments mean a lot to me.:) I promise the confusing stuff, such as talking underwater, who is Mer and who is not, and all that WILL be explained… soon….. yes…. . 

ALSO: to the Anonymous reviewer: I was actually eating a peach when I read your review and it amused me a lot. Thanks for the second peach and your review! ;;;

this is telepathy  
/this/ is someone thinking  
"this" and 'this' is talking

With that… on with the chapter!

:3 ) Last Time ( E: 

Duo was found lurking around Howard's ship by Heero and he was given the news of Heero's departure for space, a place where no Mer has gone before….

---A.C. 195---

For a little over a year, any attempts by the Alliance to build or maintain any kind of underwater facility or mobile suit were coming to a sinking halt. Plans were mysteriously erased, both for the facilities and the suits, and even submarines were being destroyed. When word got out to the press about these mysterious undertakings, the more fanciful members of society came forward with their stories about the guardians of Poseidon's Lair. Still nobody paid these tales any heed. They were just fantasy – really. It was just made up stories for little children.

Besides the Alliance had other maters to attend to with a little more importance. Like the 4 "shooting stars" of Operation Meteor and the rebels on Earth they were siding with.

Many Alliance officials believed a rebel faction on Earth was doing the underwater attacks. But why was it limited to just the water related bases and suits? The most logical reason they came up with was to divert their attention from space and the soon to come meteors.

However, any logical explanation the Alliance could come up with was shot down when one Gundam pilot was forced to self-destruct and one Alliance specials submarine got lucky searching for the mysterious water rebels…

--- Siberia A.C. 195 ---

"Trowa, do you think he's with Oz?"

"…I'm not sure… it is a possibility this is a trap."

"Rodger that." Heero and Trowa were stopping the Oz aircrafts from getting a new Prototype mobile suit.

Quatre and the Maquenacs were getting the land route. Wufei had decided to sit this one out, and get ready for another mission.

At the air refuel site there was a large white mobile suit similar to the Gundams but make out of titan not gundamium. The pilot left the line tuned into the Gundam's more public frequency, but he had yet to respond to any hails. He seemed to be focusing his attacks on the mobile suits and no the Gundams, but it could be an Oz trap.

The Gundams and the mysterious suit seemed to be winning when Lady Une made a single announcement which would change the course of the war and shake the beliefs of anyone in Oz that didn't believe in myths of fanciful creatures.

"Gundam pilots, you will stop fighting and hand over your Gundams immediately or we will destroy one of the colonies. I repeat, you will stop fighting and hand over your Gundams or we will destroy a colony."

"What!"

"That's low, even for Oz."

"Hn…"

"She's not bluffing, I am getting information showing that the colonies are being aimed for."

All the pilots stopped fighting but no one moved from their cockpits. Keeping the frequency open Une ordered a missile to be shot at the nearest colony.

However, before the order could be sent to space, a very unexpected transmission from space was received from space.

"I always knew that Oz was scum, but I never dreamed you would stoop this low."

"Ma'am that transmission is coming on a regular line. We are tracing it to the specific colony now."

"Who is he?" the unknown pilot finally decided to speak.

"One of the trainers for one of us Gundam pilots." Quatre decided to play diplomat since his two companions wouldn't answer.

"Considering you are attacking the colonies, I have no choice but to surrender." The unknown scientist continued on, seemingly uncaring that Oz was tracing the message.

"Very well then, exit your Gundams immediately."

Heero sighed and stepped out of his cockpit, unnoticed in his hand was a small detonator.

"Ma'am 01 has left his cockpit."

"Good, now get ready to give us your Gundam."

"I surrender, but I will not hand over the Gundam. I repeat, I surrender, but I will not hand over the Gundam." With that the scientist cut the transmission. Out on the battlefield everyone waited, holding his breath, to see what Heero would do.

Heero looked to be the perfection of cool and collected on the outside. On the inside however, he was falling apart. He raised his arm holding the detonator calmly and pressed the button like you would when putting the top back on a ketchup bottle.

"Mission…. Accepted." His voice was also its neutral monotone, not cracking at all.

/Duo… I'm so sorry…/ Duo was the last thing he thought of before his world exploded in pain and everything went black.

--- Off the Coast of North America ---

/Stupid Oz submarines… they never give up./ Duo was on the run from said Oz submarine. He had just taken out the port base off the coast of what used to be New York when a near by Oz sub picked up the explosion on it's radar. While Duo had a head start, the submarine wasn't to far behind.

It didn't help matters when Duo suddenly felt great panic, fear and sorrow all wash over him like a title wave.

/…Hee-chan…/

Duo… I'm… so sorry… 

'ro? But- anything else he was thinking died away as the ocean around him exploded in massive amounts of pain and his world went black.

Duo didn't notice as all the fish around him suddenly left.

Nor did he notice the large shadows surrounding him from an approaching submarine…

--- End Part 2 ---

AN: dives behind something large and protection giving like eheheheheheheh….. ; Sorry it is so short…. I didn't realize it was when I wrote it. More should be out before school begins…. in like a month… coughs ;;; . 

AN #2: and yes… everything that was confusing WILL be explained…. Just not in that particular chapter…. :x goes back into hiding 


	4. Fish out of the water!

ï»¿

Title: A Fishy Adventure  
Author: me! Little Angel  
Disclaimer: I own not GW. This story is a figment of my imagination made real through the use of paper, pens, word (god help us all), and the Internet.

Last time:

--- Off the Coast of North America ---

/Stupid Oz submarines… they never give up./ Duo was on the run from said Oz submarine. He had just taken out the port base off the coast of what used to be New York when a near by Oz sub picked up the explosion on it's radar. While Duo had a head start, the submarine wasn't to far behind.

It didn't help matters when Duo suddenly felt great panic, fear and sorrow all wash over him like a title wave.

/….Hee-chan…./

/Duo… I'm… so sorry…./

'ro? But- anything else he was thinking died away as the ocean around him exploded in massive amounts of pain and his world went black.

Duo didn't notice as all the fish around him suddenly left.

Nor did he notice the large shadows surrounding him from an approaching submarine…

---- A.C 195: 21 days after 01 self-destructed ----  
Location: Undisclosed  
Place: OZ Research Facility

The base research center was the most advanced lab on this particular continent. Computers littered the walls, chemicals were held in many cabinets, and desktops were hidden under piles and piles of papers. It looked like any other Oz research facility with one exception – the large tank of water in the middle of the room.

The tank itself was not that unusual. They could be found in research facilities all along the coast for mobile suit testing, or even underwater animals that were in need of medical care.

However, this was not a port research facility and the creature being held was definitely not a mobile suit. While it seemed to be a creature of the sea, no body really wanted to believe what they were seeing.

Creatures of Homer's play, Greek God's and other deities who defied the laws of science were not supposed to exist. They were supposed to be characters in children's literature. They were not supposed to be wondering around the ocean.

But everything is not always what it seems, and sometimes the laws of science are put to the test.

"Sir, the latest results have come in from the lab." The young lab assistant set a manila folder down on his commanding officer's standard military issued desk.

"It's amazing isn't it?" The commander was looking out his office window into the compound, watching the training drills going on.

"Sir?"

"Humans have been surviving on this Earth for thousands of years. We've managed to conquer each other, the lands, and now space. We even thought we had conquered the ocean. So how could we miss a discovery of this magnitude?" The commander turned to face the assistant, Michael was the name on his ID, and walked over to his desk picking up the folder. He scanned over the contents of the folder while the assistant answered.

"I don't know sir. Maybe this was a recent experiment or something…?"

"Possibly. I see we are now certain that it is male."

"Yes sir, it also looks like it would be about a teenager, I would say about 15 years old – if it were human."

"I see. Let the scientists know I am going to stop by the lab after my meeting. I would like to see this wondrous creature for myself."

"Yes sir."

"Dismissed." The lab assistant left with a small salute.

----

"Doctor, the commander is going to be stopping in after his meeting to observe the creature." The lab assistant went back to give the head scientist the news. He looked over at where the scientist was taking down notes at the tank.

"I see. Did he say anything about the latest reports?"

"He just asked about the creature's gender, which I did confirm sir."

The scientist nodded, but had yet to look up from where he was scribbling down notes. "Did you adjust the tank's temperatures from last night and the drug levels yet?"

"Yes sir." Michael ignored the sudden subject change. The commander's visit was unusual, and it seemed strange that the scientist was not more concerned, but with a discovery of this magnitude, he was probably more concerned with the creature and not the commander.

Michael looked over at the creature in the tank. It had been a little over three weeks since the discovery of the century was made, and no matter how many times he looked at the creature he was always in awe of what he saw.

While the creature was kept sedated at all times, his physical appearance had the females on staff swooning and even some of the males giving him a jealous once over. His hair was an extremely long chestnut color pulled back in a braid type fashion. He had bangs that fell into his heart shaped face giving him a mysterious air. The color of his eyes was still unrevealed because of the sedatives, which left everyone guessing as to the colors hidden away behind the long lashes.

From the waist up the creature looked like a human. The only exception being two sets of what appeared to be gills, one set behind each ear. His chest and arms looked like Michelangelo himself carved them. His skin was not pale, which the doctors found strange considering he lived in the ocean and not in the sun. Rather, it had an unearthly glow. No one was sure what brought it on. Maybe it was the drugs, or maybe the creature knew that he was caught.

From the waist down, is what made this wondrous creature so unusual. It did not have legs like a human. Instead it had a scaly fin, similar to fish and other sea creatures. The scales were a very dark green with a metallic glow in some brighter lights. Down at the bottom of the creature's fin as a small golden circlet. If the creature had legs the golden piece of jewelry could've been considered an ankle bracelet.

Even though this once thought to be mythical creature was drugged, it was almost like it was floating in the water. There was an unnatural grace that just added to its mysterious allure, and made people believe it would defy gravity if it were standing on two legs.

Michael was pulled out of his trance like state as the door opened and a soldier announced the commander's entrance. He blinked and shook his head looking over at the doctor.

"Hello commander." The doctor looked up from his papers and walked over to greet the commander. "Is there anything we can help you with?"

The commander looked around the room once then walked over to the tank, "so this is the mythical creature."

"Yes sir. You have copies of all the reports and exams we have done so far."

"Yes. Why are its eyes closed?"

"It is drugged. We are not sure how dangerous it is."

"I see. You know, some fairy tales say mermaids are supposed to be friendly creatures."

"They also say mermaids are supposed to be female. You can't believe everything you read."

Michael and a few of the enlisted men snickered quietly. The doctor ignored the snickering and went on, "We are planning to observe the creature un-drugged for a few days before we do the physical analysis."

"You're not going to let it die on it's own?"

"It's not going to be a complete internal examination. We are just going to open it up and see what makes him tick…. For now anyway."

The commander nodded and looked over at the merman, "I want to be here when you take him off the drugs and he wakes up."

"Sir?" The doctor and lab assistant shared a confused look. It was very unusual for military personnel to be interested in the non-military experiments, outside of reviewing the reports from said experiments.

"No problem sir, I will make sure you are notified before hand. Can I ask why you are so interested in this particular creature?"

"You can ask," the commander turned back to the scientist, "but I may not answer." He looked back at the tank.

"Right."

"That will be all. I'll be in my office." The commander started to walk out of the room but stopped in front of the door without turning around.

"Is everything ok sir?"

"Yes fine." He looked back over at the tank on last time as if the creature inside was calling out to him. He didn't move a muscle for over a minute. When the doctor was about to check on the commander, the man in question blinked and shook his head.

The commander narrowed his eyes slightly, "I just have a hunch."

With that he quietly left the room without any more incident.

The doctor and lab assistant briefly looked at each other, turned to the not so mythical creature, then turned back to look at each other. Michael shrugged and the doctor shook his head. They both subtly glanced back at the creature and went back to work.

---------------

Time: 24 days after 01's self detonation

Pain. Pain was apparent and solid.

/What…./

Black. He couldn't see anyone or anything.

/Where…/

Muffled noise was coming from… somewhere. It almost sounded like talking.

/Who…/

The darkness was so comforting but he couldn't remember why.

/There was something… or someone…/

"In the latest… two new…/ Some of the sounds were starting to break through the barriers of pain surrounding his foggy mind.

/Two…? Why does that sound so familiar…/

"…don't believe…"

/Don't… two… don… to… too… Do… DUO!… where… I can't feel…/

He suddenly needed to wake up. He fought the blackness and pain. He didn't know why but it was extremely important for him to wake up.

If he could just remember why …

/Duo…/

------

Cathy was sitting quietly with the television on at a low volume for background noise. Her "brother" brought in a very sick friend almost a month before and had been nursing him back to perfect health ever since.

The patient made a small noise, which, if Cathy hadn't been sitting right next to him, she wouldn't of, heard it. She turned off the TV and looked over at the boy. He was completely covered in bandages literally from head to toe, which gave him a mysterious look. The boy twitched slightly and made another small noise. Cathy made a decision and hurried outside to get her brother. He wanted to be notified when his friend awoke.

-------

"Thanks Cathy," Trowa silently made his way into the trailer where Heero was lying. Heero was slowly making his way back to the world of the living so Trowa leaned against the wall. It wouldn't be long now and there were so many questions that needed to be answered.

Heero regained consciousness slowly. The first thing that he realized was that he wasn't restrained, although there were many somethings wrapped around his body.

/Bandages…? Who? Where/ Heero blinked his eyes open and looked around the room as best he could without turning his head.

"Your awake." It wasn't a question, merely a statement of fact. The voice sounded vaguely familiar. Trowa…/ah damn./

"Trowa… where?" Heero's voice cracked before he could get his question out. Trowa pushed away from the wall and walked over to sit near the bed. He poured a small cup of water as Heero pushed himself up in the bed. His wounds protested but he ignored the pain, he had much more important things to worry about.

"Hey. Take it easy, you just woke up."

"I'm fine…" Heero seemed to hesitate, "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Four weeks."

"I see…" On the outside Heero was calm and composed. On the inside however, millions of emotions were battling for supremacy – panic, worry, anger, and pain were among the most prominent.

"You are lucky to be alive."

"Hn." /Duo… was in the ocean when I self-destructed, which means he felt everything… my gods! Is he ok? Was he caught? Please let him be okay. This is all my fault… wait… what…? …shit./

Trowa continued talking to him, but Heero was not completely paying attention anymore, which cost him greatly.

"You had a lot of cuts, bruises and a couple broken bones and ribs. There were some interesting… cuts behind your ears though. Three on each side. They almost resemble a pair of gills, or something, but I don't think they were caused from the explosion."

It was a veiled question. Although in Heero's state of mind, he was not completely listening and automatically answered without actually thinking about the words coming out of his mouth.

"They are gills. I use them to breathe when I am underwater."

Heero and Trowa both blinked in confusion at the same time, only with different reasons for said confusion. Trowa had only been half serious when he made the comment about the gills. He was definitely not expecting the answer he received. He sat back in his chair and took a second to gather and process his thoughts.

/Heero either hit his head harder than I thought… or he's serious… which means… oh shit./

"So you can breathe underwater." The statement was made with only a mild hint of sarcasm and disbelief.

Heero for his part, suddenly clamed up and turned away, not answering vocally or by nod. However, his reaction answered for him.

"Last time I checked Heero, humans couldn't breathe underwater… not even perfect ones." Heero still wasn't answering or looking at him. The empty plastic cup was currently being flattened in Heero's grip, which was the only sign that the questioning was affecting him.

"Trowa?" Cathy knocked at the door of the trailer, "I brought you and your friend some soup. Now that he is awake we can start feeding him solider foods and not just the broth."

Trowa glanced at Heero who jumped slightly when Cathy knocked then went to open the door for her.

"Thanks Cathy. We both really appreciate this." He took the tray and brought it over to the nightstand, setting it down. "I will take care of the dishes when we're done."

"It was no problem." She turned to Heero, "Eat up quickly okay? I want to hear that you finished that whole bowl."

At Heero's extremely small hesitant nod she smiled and left the two of them alone.

"It isn't drugged or anything if that is what you are wondering. Cathy is a pretty good cook." Trowa took the mutilated plastic cup out of Heero's hand and replaced it with a steaming bowl of soup. Heero passively let him take the cup and held onto the bowl but made no move toward eating it. Trowa filled a second plastic cup and put it in reach of Heero. He then picked up his own bowl of soup and started eating.

"You better eat something if you want to get your strength back and out of bed faster."

Heero briefly glanced up at him, "h…hai. You're right." He took a very small hesitant spoon of the soup and slowly ate the hot meal.

Neither pilot said much over lunch. Both of them lost in their thoughts.

/So he can breathe underwater. That's crazy… or is it? His doctor wouldn't do genetic alterations would he? It's possible. But why gills? Why would he need to breathe underwater?

Wait – isn't there a rebel attacking Alliance and OZ water ports, submarines, and bases? Is there a connection between these attacks and Heero? He looks human, he bleeds like a human, he walks like a human, he talks like a human, he breathes like a human… most of the time./

A sudden thought crossed Trowa's mind, but it was so crazy it almost made perfect sense.

/What if he's not human…?

It would fit his behavior pattern since he woke up. Although so would genetic alterations.

What are the facts…

a)He looks, acts, talks, walks and breathes (mostly) like a human.   
b)He came from space in a Gundam  
c)He has gills which he uses to breathe underwater  
d)He has a strange gold ankle bracelet on his left ankle, which gave me an electric shock when I touched it.   
e)There have been reports of underwater attacks made from a rebel on Earth  
f)He suddenly clammed up when I mentioned the gills

…So what… no way…/

Trowa analyzed what he knew and put everything together, drawing a conclusion that was extremely bizarre and unreal.

Trowa blinked and realized they had both finished eating. He picked up the bowls and went to wash them. He needed more time to think and research his theory. "I'll go take care of the dishes."

Heero didn't say anything – he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. He didn't even acknowledge the door close or that he was by himself in the room.

Heero's thoughts were running all over the place but they all managed to crash into each other over and over again. They all revolved around Duo, what slipped out during Trowa's questioning, Duo, Oz, Duo, how he was going to explain what he said to Trowa, and Duo.

By the time Cathy had arrived with the soup, Heero's thoughts were starting to become mildly organized. He barely heard anything Trowa said and ate the soup automatically. He vaguely heard Trowa say something about getting out of bed faster.

/To find Duo…/ Which he hesitatingly answered.

/Ok wait. I need to stop thinking like this. I cannot look for Duo until I am at least strong enough to work on a computer, or walk around. I don't even know if he has been caught.

First I need to figure out what I am going to say – or not say, to Trowa. I've already said and not said too much. /

He distantly head Trowa say something about cleaning up and a door closing, but he was still caught up in his thoughts.

/Trowa is a Gundam Pilot. I'm sure he will be able to figure something out about this. I could just tell him… But there is definitely the chance that he won't believe this.

The question is: Can I TRUST him/

Heero suddenly lay back on the bed a little to quickly and his injuries let him know it.

/He took care of me after I self-destructed when he didn't have to… didn't he? It was either that or let me get caught… but they all thought I was dead right?… But he did end up helping me even if it was because I am a pilot as well… I don't think he will let this go…/

Heero sighed and came to a shaky decision. He was getting extremely tired and his thoughts were becoming muddled.

/Duo… I wish you were here…/ Heero drifted into an uneasy sleep. Inside he hoped he was making the right decision.

----------- End Part 3 -----------

AN: reads through the part to edit and gets to the end, crashing into the lovely wall-O-cliffhanger…Yep! PERFECT place to end. Mwuahahahahahahahahahah lightening crashes and thunder sounds

Dramatic music starts playing Will Heero tell Trowa everything? Will our mysterious sea creature be trapped in the hands of Oz FOREVER? Will Heero get well enough to get him out? How will Trowa react when he gets back to the trailer?

The question is: What will Heero say to Trowa? Lets take a vote shall we? Leave a comment with your suggestion on how much Heero should say. ;;


	5. Backwards to go fowards?

Title: A Fishy Adventure 4?  
Author: Little Angel   
Achieve: FFN under LittleAngelsPerk  
Warnings: yaoi,   
Disclaimer: I don't own them ;; This story is a figment of my imagination made real through the use of paper, pens, word (god help us all), and the Internet.  
Pairings: right now: 2+1… more to come!

Author's Note: This is going to be going back in time as the chapter progresses, then in the next on everything will be caught up again, in that forward progressional sorta way. It should be amusing!

Last Time   
Time: 24 Days after 01 Self Destructed  
Location: Traveling Circus

_Heero sighed and came to a shaky decision. He was getting extremely tired and his thoughts were becoming muddled. _

_/Duo… I wish you were here…/ Heero drifted into an uneasy sleep. Inside he hoped he was making the right decision… _

As Trowa washed the remaining dishes, he thought more about the strange idea whirling around his mind. For some reason his instinct was telling him it made sense – the same instinct which told him to put his hand out to the lion when he was interviewing for the position in the circus. The mercenary part of him thought it was a ludicrous theory – but Heero was definitely not telling him something.

/The flying trapeze family is interested in mythologies such as this, maybe they have a book I could barrow. If Heero isn't going to tell me, then I will have to find out the old fashioned way. /

With that thought Trowa finished putting the dishes back onto the shelf and went in search of the family. /Hopefully I won't arouse too much suspicion. I'll bring whatever they let me barrow back to the trailer to read while Heero is napping. /

"Good morning sunshine!" Heero blinked and turned his head toward Trowa, somehow the thought of his fellow pilot saying such a phrase was mind boggling so in an attempt to keep things "normal" he settled with sending Trowa a glare.

"Hn."

Trowa chuckled at the reaction and closed the book he had been reading./That worked better than I thought it would./ The heavyarms pilot came to the conclusion, while he was reading, that what ever Heero was going to say was going to be extremely hard. He wanted the other pilot to have a chance stablize himself when he made the completely out of character remark and thankfully it had worked. Hopefully Heero would take his attempt at humor in the right light, and feel a bit more comfortable in his presence. It was a long shot, but it might work. He poured some water into the cup on the bedside table and handed it to Heero, who again managed to push himself up into a sitting position. Said pilot gratefully took the offered beverage but was hesitant to look his comrade in the eye.

"How long was I asleep this time?"

"About an hour and a half." Trowa sat back in his chair and looked at Heero but made no move to speak.

Heero for his part was slowly sipping the water, his body extremely tense. He realized rather quickly in the silence that Trowa was allowing him to make the first move – it was just a matter of getting up the courage to breach the topic on both their minds.

/Well…. It's now or never…/ "You…ah… You have more questions," Heero swallowed and lifted his head to look at Trowa. He couldn't keep eye contact for long so he looked at anything except the human sitting in front of him.

/Fear/ When Heero spoke and glanced up at him, Trowa saw fear in his eyes. He realized then how important this revelation was both to Heero and possibly their cause.

/He wants to trust me… But he is afraid of how I will react to the information he is going to share…. But why such fear…? Maybe…/ "Heero you can trust me. It's not like I would turn you into Oz or anything. You are an important member to our cause and you have already sacrificed so much for the peace."

Heero nodded but still wouldn't meet his companion's eyes, "This is… you…are the first…. Person," /can't say human… yet…, "Who I am telling about this. I need you to promise that you won't tell anyone else."

Heero finally made eye contact with Trowa. He let all his worry, concern, fear and a small amount of trust swirl around in his eyes.

Trowa looked him right in the eye, "I promise I will not say anything to a living soul. You have my word."

At his promise, Heero's body lost the smallest bit of tension and he nodded. Some of the worry and concern left his eyes to be replaced with more trust. "You…have more questions."

Heero repeated his earlier statement. Obviously he wanted the ball to be in Trowa's court and didn't want to give away anymore information then necessary. Trowa for his part sat back in his chair, with a very relaxed and open posture, "So you can breathe underwater."

Heero nodded. Technically Trowa did not ask a question and was just restating a fact he already had an answer to, so there was no need to elaborate his answer.

"Did the scientist who created your Gundam do some kind of genetic mutation to you?"

"No," Heero hesitated then added, "The human race has thankfully not become advanced enough to do that."

Trowa blinked, he wasn't completely expecting the answer he received, or the elaboration on said answer. /It wasn't genetic manipulation… which means…./

"You aren't human, are you?"

"I… ah… n..no." The tension in Heero's body was back, he looked over at Trowa, who for his part didn't seem extremely surprised at the revelation. "You knew!"

Trowa cracked a small smile, "I had a hunch."

Heero glanced over at the book but didn't respond.

"I've been doing some…research, so to speak, and most of what I found would lead me to believe you are some kind of mythical Greek creature."

"You are close, but not quite right."

Trowa raised an eyebrow, "So what are you?"

"I… ah... I believe the term you use is… mermaid?"

Trowa's other eyebrow shot up to join the first, "mermaid…? Heero, they are supposed to be female, and unless there is more to this whole sea creature gender thing, you are definitely not female."

Heero chuckled at the expression on Trowa's face and his body lost some more of its tension, "no I am male. I guess the correct terminology would be…merman then?"

"Mer..people…aren't supposed to exist Heero."

It was Heero's turn to raise an eyebrow, "says who?"

Trowa shrugged, "they are in fantasy books and ancient Greek plays and stories. No one has ever seen a mermaid or any other type of mythical creature before now, so why should we believe they are real?"

"Where do you think those stories and myths came from if they aren't real? Humans may not see us, but that is because you only see what you want to see and do not believe in what you can't see."

Trowa nodded. Heero's explanation made sense, unless they were applying that line of logic with religion, but, humans were kind of hypocritcal when it came to that particular subject at times.

"What is that ankle bracelet around you ankle for? It shocked me when I touched it after you self-destructed."

"It helps me keep this form, so I can shower and use the fresh water without changing back into my real form. I also think it helps make the transformation less painful, but I have no inclination to test that particular theory."

"Why are you fighting in a human war? I mean, you could get caught and/or killed, for what, a couple of human factions trying to rule each other?"

"I fight for the same reason you are fighting. I have to protect my home. Humans become more technologically advanced each day.. You gave up on combing the ocean of its life hundreds of years ago, but you are a power hungry race. You will not stop until you have the universe conquered.

Trowa was unsuccessful in hiding the wince which was brought about by Heero's words. Unfortunately he was correct about a portion of the human race, "not all of us are like that Heero. But you are right about those who are."

Heero nodded and looked pointedly at Trowa, "I know. I wouldn't be here right now if that held true for the entire human race."

Both pilots looked each other in the eye and a certain understanding passed between them. The moment passed and Trowa asked the next question. "You mentioned your home. Are there more mer-people or are you the only one?"

Heero suddenly got a very pained look in his eyes and turned away, "I can't answer any questions about my home."

Trowa nodded and even though his curiosity was peaked, he did not ask anything else.

"Has there been any activity with Oz since my last battle?" Heero turned back toward Trowa, no trace of the pained or haunted look was in his expression. He was calm and cold – just like the "perfect soldier" he was known to be.

/I guess the game of twenty questions is over. / "No they have been extremely quiet. I don't think they believed you would self-destruct."

Heero nodded, "What about the rebels and the pilot of that suite we saw."

"Quatre thought it would be a good idea to work with the rebels. He got in contact with the pilot from the battle. It turns out his name is Zechs Marquise. He and his partner Lucriezia Noin are ex-alliance specials, they resigned when the realized what was happening within the aristocracy…"

A phone call on Trowa's private line interrupted the conversation.

"Hello?" Trowa had the line on voice only, no visual.

"Trowa? OH! Good! I was hoping you would be there-"

"Quatre?" Trowa turned on the picture and checked to make sure the line was secure. Quatre's face lit up the screen and his eyes went straight to Trowa.

"Trowa! The mission went better than we originally planned!"

Trowa gave a small smile, "That's great Quatre."

"How's Heero?" Quatre was suddenly very concerned.

Trowa's own smile widened slightly and he moved to the side so Quatre could see the bed, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Heero! You're awake! Are you okay? How do you feel? How long have you been awake? Is Trowa taking care of you?"

"Quatre, it's good to see you again. I am fine." He hesitated slightly, "Thank you for asking." /He's just like Duo…/

Quatre switched his attention back to Trowa, "When do you think Heero will be ready for travel?"

Trowa glanced over at the pilot in question, who shrugged, "I would say within the week. Why do you ask?"

"There is another assignment coming up which requires us to work with the rebels. I wanted you guys to at least meet Noin, Zechs and Sally since they are in charge of the groups we will be working with."

Trowa nodded, "as long as it doesn't involve to much flying."

"Great! I'll send the coordinated to your laptop later today. Zechs and Rashid are returning from their portion of the last mission in an hour or so, and I want to be there to meet them and explain a few things about what happened. I'm happy to see you're okay Heero! Bye guys!"

"Bye Quatre." Trowa turned off the vid-phone and turned back to the bed. "You up to a trip to see the other pilots?"

Heero smirked, "Hn. Two days."

Time: 21 Days after 01 Self-Destructed  
Location: Rebel Base Undisclosed Location

"Are you sure this is a good idea Zechs?"

"Yes Noin. These pilots are fighting for the same reasons as us – only for the colonies. I believe working with them will increase our strength and bring more hope to our soldiers. Even if it's for a few missions, the men's morale will be heightened with the knowledge that they are working with the Gundam pilots."

"I know. It's just that I don't want the Gundam Pilots to think we had anything to do with what happened to their fallen comrade…"

"Sir, there is an incoming transport plane hailing from the east!" The urgent message interrupted the conversation.

"We will be at the flight tower momentarily," Noin turned to Zechs, "Well it looks like we'll find out now…"

Both ex-specials went to the flight tower. When they reached the tower Zechs opened a secure line with the craft in question, "Unidentified transport, state your name and reason for being here, or we will open fire. Over."

A moment of static quickly replaced by a deep male voice, "We are a supply transport bringing the extra rations ordered as well as some added treats of Fire Side tea and Dessert Storm swirl iced cream. Both of which are specialty items in the colonies. Over."

"Rodger that transport. You are clear to land at hanger one. Over and out." The line was disconnected and Zechs turned to his partner in crime, "Shall we go greet our guests?"

Noin snickered and nodded, "interesting code names they chose…"

Zech's lips twitched, "Indeed." He turned to a soldier, "have Sally meet us at hanger one at once."

"Sir!" The soldier saluted and went off in search of the rebel doctor.

To say the rebels were terrified at the sigh of two Gundams maneuvering out of the transport and into the hanger to stand next to Zech's prized suit Tallgesse, would be a bit of an overstatement. Fear was definitely in their expressions – the tales of the infamous Gundams traveled fast – but shock, awe, and even curiosity were starting to settle over the fear.

As the Gundams moved into the pre-appointed storage space and powered down so the eerily glowing green eyes of the mechas faded, the soldiers around the hanger started to let their curiosity get the better of them. They stayed a few meters behind Zechs, Noin and the rebel doctor, in a relatively basic military formation.

Sally glanced behind her at the soldiers and snickered. The movement caught the attention of the ex-specials who also looked back at their soldiers. They both cracked a small smile, but any comments they would have made were cut off as the powerful mechas opened their hatches and the Gundam pilots were revealed for the first time.

A collection of slacking jaws and mummers from the soldiers' formation behind the ex-specials and doctor about the pilots' entry were quickly quieted with a warning glare from Noin.

A silent communication went on between the two pilots in a glance – possibly a sign of amusement, or something else completely – the rebels would never know.

"Good afternoon gentlemen. I am not sure if I should be worried or relieved that you found the base so soon."

The blonde chuckled, "No worries Ms. Po – we were not followed. Your location is still quite hidden from Oz."

"Call me Sally. There is no need to be formal since we are all fighting on the same side."

Quatre deliberately did not look back behind the rebel leaders answered, "Very well – Sally it is. You can call me Quatre, pilot 04. And this is Wufei, pilot 05. Mr. Merquiz I presume it was you fighting in the last battle with us. And this must be your behind the scenes partner Ms. Noin."

"You are correct Quatre, but call me Zechs."

"Master Quatre," Rashid came up to the pilots, "Everything is secure and the transports are hidden."

Zechs and Noin immediately recognized that as the voice piloting the transport.

Quatre beamed, "Excellent! Thank you again for accompanying us Rashid."

He turned to the rebels, "This is Rashid – the leader of the Middle East Maquanacs Corps. He and a few of his men joined us to help with this next mission we have been given."

"It is a pleasure to meet you. If everyone is ready, I think we can show you to your rooms and give you the credit tour."

"That would be great, thank you Sally." The group turned to leave the hanger through a side door. The small formation of soldiers was slowly disbanding to go back to their assigned duties – but they were still watching their leaders and the Gundam pilots as well.

Wufei and Quatre shared another look then turned to the soldiers, "it would be in your best interest t not touch the Gundams."

"We will know, and you do not want to find out what will happen to you when we find you." Many soldiers paled considerably and others working closer to the Gundams moved their work stations as far from said machines as possible. No body really wanted to find out how seriously to take such a threat from the young Gundam pilots.

"And last but not least, the cafeteria, where you'll find the best rations this side of the hemisphere."

Quatre cracked a small smile and Wufei muttered something under his breathe, which earned him an elbow in the side. Zechs interjected before said pilot could retaliate, "Dinner has started, why don't we get some food and talk more about our plan for the next few days?"

Everyone agreed and they all got into the line. Many soldiers were already in line, but had turned to get a look at the infamous Gundam Pilots. Word traveled fast around the base, so their arrival and threat went with it. Said pilots ignored most of the looks and murmurs going on around them – or cracked a smile at some comments they overheard. Well, Quatre smiled. Wufei rolled his eyes or snorted to himself.

After a table was found, and the food gathered, Noin asked something which was plaguing the minds of the rebel leaders, "So if there were only four of you pilots to begin with, why are you pilot 04, and pilot 05? Shouldn't it only go up to four?"

"Our numbers come from the colony cluster we were sent from. I was sent from the L4 cluster and Wufei hails from L5."

"It was pilot 01 that gave his life for the colonies – correct? I'm extremely sorry for your lose. I never thought Lady Une would stoop so low."

"I believe he is still alive."

"Zechs, it's almost impossible that he could've survived. He would have to be super human." Sally shook her head, "I'd love to believe he made it but the odds against it are too great."

Wufei and Quatre shared a look. Wufei spoke, cutting off the argument which seemed old and going no where. "01 knew the risks and was ready to do anything for the colonies without hesitation. We should respect what he has done and question our own loyalties to the peace. How far will you be willing to go if need be? What will you give up in the name of peace?"

"Wufei is right." Noin nodded toward Wufei, "we shouldn't be arguing over what happened. 01 was a soldier like all of us and he knew the risks of fighting and accepted that he might not live through the war."

"Because of this new threat that Oz has posed to the colonies – we will not be using our Gundams on this next mission. We can not risk Oz using the same tactic – which is why we have asked to work with you." Quatre sat down his fork a sign that he was ready to plan.

Noin chuckled and looked to Sally, "Damn – I guess I owe you five credits…"

"Remind me later. If everyone is ready, I suggest adjourning to a meeting room for an evening of mission planning. Say 20 minutes?"

There were collective nodds and grunts of agreement form everyone at the table. They all stood and went to gather what they needed for the meeting.

For reasons unknown, Quatre felt that this was an extremely important mission. There seemed to be more at stake then just being able to work with other rebels – but he couldn't figure out why…

Time: 21 Days after 01 self-destructed  
Location: Undisclosed Oz Research facility

"Sir, if we observe it from the observation room we can see how it reacts without human interaction or influence."

The scientist nodded, "I was thinking that as well, if the commander has no objections."

The Commander shook his head, "I'm out of my depths here gentlemen. The project is yours and the subject's manipulation is up to you. May I suggest putting some type of seal over the top of the tank – fish like to jump out of the water on occasion."

"Ah yes. We do have the electric field which runs across the top," The doctor turned to Michael, "initiate the field." He paused and looked back at the tank, "and drop the water level by two feet."

A low hum indicated the electric field's initiation and the water level slowly decreased the desired amount of feet. "Everything is ready sir. If my calculations are correct – the creature should be waking within the hour. Perhaps this would be a good time to enter the observation room."

The scientist nodded and turned to the commander, "have two men stationed outside the door. Nobody is to enter this room until given further notice."

The general turned to the two enlisted men at the door, "You two will be on guard duty – no body is to enter this room until given further notice, under penalty of dishonorable discharge."

"Sir! Yes sir!" The men saluted and left the room to guard it from the outside. Neither were sure of what would happen when the creature was released from its drugged state, so it eased their minds somewhat to be on the outside of the room and not inside. Their curiosity of fairy tales was being overridden by fear of the unknown.

The three remaining men walked over to the observation room. The lab assistant finished setting up the recording material when he entered the room.

The commander gazed into the lab through the one way mirror, specifically at the creature which still seemed to be floating in the water. "Tell me doctor, the creature has been unconscious for the last three weeks or so, correct? So how is it still looking exactly the same as it did upon coming here and not 'withering away' so to speak from malnutrition?"

"We are doing something similar to an I.V drip, such as those used on comatose patients at hospitals. We have taken the basic minerals of the ocean water and combined them with some select vitamins used in I.V drips. It is filtered into the water along with the drugs which kept it sedated for so long. We are assuming that it's body is feeding off of the minerals and vitamins just as much as the drugs because it's body mass has not decreased grandly over the weeks, nor have the drugs lost their affect. We are going to start feeding it fish when the drugs wear off."

"Sir, it seems to be moving! I believe it is waking up!"

All three men turned their attention on the creature. Sure enough it was waking, or at least starting to move from its self imposed suspended state. The creature looked to be sinking towards the bottom of the tank, yet its fins never touched the floor. The glow which many thought surrounded the creature while sedated was even more pronounced then before. The scientist found that to be extremely interesting and peculiar at the same time.

The mythical creature's right arm twitched and its fingers curled into a light fist before quickly uncurling to their previous state. The same arm seemed to float through the water and move up to its face – momentarily blocking its eyes from view. The hand pushed back the creature's long bangs, a common practice among humans, which the lab assistant noticed. But the creature did not open its eyes.

Nervous tension was growing in the observation room as each of the men watched and waited to see the mysterious creature's behavior.

However, said tension was soon replaced with an almost paralyzing fear as the creature's eyes fluttered open for the first time during the whole captivity. Unclouded, piercing blood red eyes were revealed and focused right on the three men who were keeping it in captivity.

Author's Notes: ehehehehehe…….. :hides:


	6. Is that what I think it is?

Title: A Fishy Adventure 5?  
Author: Little Angel   
Disclaimer: I still don't own the g-boys…  
Pairings: 2+1, 3+4, possibly others….  
Warnings: Yaoi  
Archive: FFN under LittleAngelPerk, and Gundam Wing Universe under Little Angel

"this" is talking  
'this' is telepathy  
/this/ is thoughts or thinking

Author Note: There will be NO attempted rape or anything like that on the part of Duo's capturers… I repeat: there will be NO NCS in this or any other chapter.

Second Author's Note: Please pay attention to the time line posted every so often… it should help alleviate some confusion about the sequence of events since everything will be jumping around a lot throughout the chapter. A more complete run down will be given at the end of the chapter to avoid spoilers at the moment…

Previously…

_The mythical creature's right arm twitched and its fingers curled into a light fist before quickly uncurling to their previous state. The same arm seemed to float through the water and move up to its face – momentarily blocking its eyes from view. The hand pushed back the creature's long bangs, a common practice among humans, which the lab assistant noticed. But the creature did not open its eyes. _

_Nervous tension was growing in the observation room as each of the men watched and waited to see the mysterious creature's behavior. _

_However, said tension was soon replaced with an almost paralyzing fear as the creature's eyes fluttered open for the first time during the whole captivity. Unclouded, piercing blood red eyes were revealed and focused right on the three men who were keeping it in captivity._

-8-8-8-8-8-

"Oh…my…god! Sir! It's eyes…" Michael's comment seemed to break the freezing spell cast over the observation room by the creature's piercing eyes. The scientist began to furiously take down notes, questions, and personal comments – seemingly ignoring the other two in the room.

The commander started pacing the small room, caught up in his own thoughts and theories. Michael turned away from the creature to check the observation equipment. His back was stiff as if he could still feel the piercing gaze from the creature.

The creature itself had shifted his gaze to slowly look around the rest of the room in which it was held. As if it could see through the water and at the equipment surrounding it – an observation which did not go unnoticed by the scientist. Its overall posture also caught the scientist's keen eye. It seemed tense and withdrawn, perhaps this not so mythical creature was more intelligent then he originally thought. The possibilities for testing the range and complexity of its intelligence were flowing through the man almost faster than he could write.

What felt like days to the lab assistant, but was really a matter of hours, found the commander's pacing slowed and the scientist's scribbling dwindled to a few occasional words. They all seemed reluctant to break the silence by talking in case the creature decided to "look" at them again.

The scientist, curious to see what would happen, spoke first, "Michael, it is almost time for its feeding and machines to be checked."

The lab assistant, for his part, did not jump very high when the scientist spoke and was working up the courage to answer, let alone go out there. It seemed the creature really couldn't hear their conversation, or was at least hiding the fact that it could, because it did not move or turn back in their direction at the hesitant words. This seemed to ease Michael's racing heart but wasn't enough to make him answer.

Instead the commander beat him to it, "The boy seems scared out of his mind; do you think it wise to send him in there alone? Perhaps an enlisted man should go with him."

"No, the creature seems intelligent. I don't want to give it any inclination that we are a military facility for as long as possible."

"Then you should go."

"If I go, I will not be able to record the responses first hand."

"I'll go." Michael was barely able to keep his voice above a whisper, so he cleared his throat and tried again for a more dignified response. "I have been on this project since the beginning. The creature has always fascinated me, I just – its eyes – they weren't something I was expecting."

He took a deep breath focusing on the task at hand and not the blood red eyes still not looking in their direction. By focusing on what needed to be done, helped Michael keep is calm. When fear was no longer enveloping his body he stepped toward the door. Before his hand could touch the cold steal of the knob the scientist spoke up, "don't look the creature in the eye. We are not sure what it is capable of…yet."

Michael gave a short nod and placed his hand on the knob opening the door to something familiar and yet completely new at the same time. /It's funny/ thought the lab assistant/how something as simple as opening a door can be considered such a life altering experience./

Little did he know how right he was.

-8-8-8-8-8-

**21 Days since 01 Self Destructed**  
Rebel Base: Undisclosed location

"So ladies and gentlemen – now that everyone is here shall we begin?" Quatre looked around to all those gathered – Noin, Zechs, and Sally sat opposite Wufei and himself, while Rashid was acting as a buffer between the two groups, sitting at the head of the large table.

Quatre knew Wufei wasn't one for opening speeches; he mostly wanted to get to the maps and tactics planning. But Quatre felt some debriefing was in order if they wanted to work with the rebels – to trust the rebels. The two pilots had argued that point for hours on the trip to the base before Wufei finally relented – "Use your discretion and follow your instincts. I trust you to not say too much. I, however, refuse to say anything not relevant to strategizing or tactics."

Quatre pulled himself out of his thoughts and focused on the mission planning at hand. "Basically, we need your help. We do not know if Oz will be threatening the colonies again in an attempt to make us surrender. We are capable of infiltrating a base and destroying it without our Gundams, however, we all know the amount of fire power it takes to destroy a single mobile suit – let alone an entire base. It's a lot of man power and explosives at play. We already have the assistance of Rashid and his men in the Maquanacs Corps, but we would like to try working with you as well. We are all facing a common enemy for our own reasons, but there is safety in numbers and we can look out for each other later."

"You mentioned earlier that you had a specific mission you needed assistance with, correct?"

"Right Ms. Noin. This mission came from 01's operative in the colonies. They didn't say what we are getting – but there is a scientific research base on the North American Continent holding something of value to us. They want us to go in and retrieve it, as well as destroy all knowledge of the base's existence."

"They didn't tell you what we are retrieving?"

"No, he said I would know it when I saw it."

The three Oz rebels blinked, "Are your informants always this… helpful with information?" As a doctor, Sally was having a bit of trouble computing that through her head. She liked as much information as possible – especially when it involved something medical.

Both pilots just amusedly looked at the rebels, and didn't bother with a response.

"Do you have a strategy, or are we all going to work that out now?" Noin broke the impromptu starring contest of mild amusement.

"Yes, Quatre has devised a plan on who will do what" Wufei, who was happy to begin mission planning, pulled out the base maps and laid them out on the table.

"There will be two teams that will go into the base itself. Team Alpha, will consist of myself, Sally, and two members of your troops who are completely trust worthy. One of which should have some kind of medical background as well. We will be looking for whatever the object is. Team Beta will consist of Wufei, Ms. Noin, and a few of Rashid's men. You will be setting bombs, and securing an escape route for us. Zechs, and Rashid, you and the Maquanacs will be handling the Gundam attack and create a diversion for us to leave by."

"Wait, wait. Quatre, I thought you said the thing wasn't alive? So why are there two people with medical backing going on the rescue team?"

"Actually they didn't tell us anything either way. At least with Sally and one of her staff with us, we can be safe knowing we won't kill it, if it is alive. And I have a feeling that whatever it is – there is some life to it."

The three earth bound rebels shared a look, but didn't want to argue the point. If the thing – whatever it was - was alive, then they would be wasting valuable time arguing over its state of being.

"So where do you want us to begin the attack?"…

The six rebels worked over the mission details for another hour, before calling it a night. Noin and Zechs saw to the proper ships loaded with supplies and Sally went to collect a member of her staff to help get the medical supplies. Quatre and Wufei were working to secure the team's safe house and get away vehicles. They wanted it to be on the continent but close to the water so they could submerge the mobile suits.

Everything was to be loaded that night for an early morning take off. The trip itself would take at least twelve hours – which would put them at their destination at early evening. That gave them plenty of time to unload and begin the mission.

Although nothing would prepare Quatre and Sally's team for what this particular mission held in store for them…

-8-8-8-8-8-

**21 after 01 self destructs**  
Oz Scientific Research Facility: Undisclosed location

He was aware, but not completely…

/…The drugs are being stopped…. But why…/

He could feel but only one constant yet familiar pressure…

/…I must be under water…but where…/

All outside communication was still being blocked…

/…Hee-chan… why can't I feel you? … /

He felt it was important to wake up… but why?

/It's hard to think clearly…/

He curled his hand into a loose fist to see if he still had control over his body.

/I can still move my hand… which means I am in control of my body… I don't feel any restraints – but I am positive I am not in the ocean. /

Duo slowly brought his hand to his forehead and held it there – pushing lightly. The pressure helped him focus his mind and force the drugs out of his system.

/There is definitely a barrier over the top of this tank thing – so I won't be getting out that way anytime soon. Hmm… I think I am alone in here – definitely in a tank by myself…but it seems there are humans…/ Duo lowered his hand and looked straight ahead /…through there. Yep – definitely through there. But where is here/

Careful to keep his expression neutral Duo turned his gaze on the rest of the room, yet his attention was focused on the humans just beyond the door. /There are at least two in there – if not three. And I can't sense any other humans hidden away – although I'm sure there is some guarding the exits. This must be some kind of military research base – but where? …Whoa, those humans must be having some conversation in there. It should get interesting pretty soon. /

Duo was careful to not look in the direction of the observation room and just as careful to keep his expression as blank as possible. To help with his effort he also couldn't think of what had happened to Heero, which coincidently got him stuck in this position in the first place. He couldn't feel his other half, but he refused to believe he was dead. For the time being, he chalked it up to a side effect of the drugs and left it at that.

As the observation room door opened, Duo turned to look at the man entering the room. This seemed to unnerve the young man, but he continued on with what he was doing regardless. Duo hid a grin at the stress levels the young man was getting at and came to a decision, one that he hoped wouldn't get him in to much trouble later…

/Might as well have a little fun while I'm stuck here…/

He had to fight himself to keep the grin off his face.

-8-8-8-8-8-

The days following the creature's awakening left the scientist with a lot of information to both process and unravel. Anything from the creature's eating and sleeping habits – to the more extremes like sudden water temperature changes. Many who were working with the creature were no longer fazed by the color of its eyes – which hadn't change at all since the drugs wore off. Because of the constant red of the eyes, the theory that the creature was reacting to the drugs was soon dropped, but more theories soon took its place. Most of the team believed it had to do with where the creature lived in the sea, but since they didn't know the exact location it was hard to pin point anything more specific to prove the theory.

The scientists even added certain chemicals to the water to gauge the creature's reaction, which was very extreme. It was almost like the chemicals were poisoning it – yet they also seemed to burn the creature's scales and skin.

Duo himself, was caught at times between amusement for some of the experiments and all out horror and fear at what was happening. Although, he was extremely careful to never show a reaction if he could manage it. The most extreme reaction was to the chemicals – but it was hard for him to not feel like he was on fire, both inside and out.

That particular test was done on the eve of the third day of his awakened captivity. It left Duo praying that they would leave him alone that night so his body could recuperate. He wasn't sure he would be able to survive if they did that particular experiment again, with different chemicals.

The people in charge of the project had yet to let him out of the tank, which meant they thankfully didn't know about his… other form… But Duo knew that whatever was on top of the tank keeping him in was still there.

He also knew he was never alone. There were always soldiers outside the exit doors, inside the observation room, and even one or two stationed in the room. The number of guards combined with the tests being done, left Duo with very little hope of escape. He also couldn't sense Heero, whom he refused to believe was dead.

/I can't feel him – but maybe he's just unconscious… on one of those mini planets in space… 'Heero… why won't you answer me… please…'/

It was no use. Between the tests and whatever was wrong with Heero, Duo couldn't reach or feel his soul mate. /If he's among the humans that would explain why I can't talk to him… but why can't I feel him? Okay. I have to stop this. Unless I can get out there is very little I can do to find Heero. I need to figure out how I am going to get out of here first… wait… who? Heero…/

Duo pushed all thoughts of his other half out of his mind and tried to think up an escape plan. He was checking on the guards when he felt something new cross his senses. There was a human reaching out to him. /But who? And why/

Duo attempted to read from the human if this was some sort of test. But the feelings were faint – almost like the human was far away.

/It's getting… closer? ... And it's definitely not Heero… so who/

All other thoughts were pushed aside as Duo tried to focus completely on this human. So far it seemed trust worthy, but he wasn't completely sure this wasn't some kind of test. It was getting closer to the base – if not already there and close enough for Duo to scan its feelings undetected. He didn't want to communicate with the human unless he was positive it was trust worthy. As he scanned a faint feeling entered his senses.

/HEERO! This human knows Heero! Maybe…/ Duo decided to trust his instincts and this familiar feeling. He reached out just as the human had done earlier and was amused by the startled yet happy response it gave in return. The presence showed that the human was coming towards the main door – which was a bad move. There were still guards in the observation room and the room he was in. Duo let off negative feelings – without actually speaking to the human, to explain about the guards. He felt gratitude flow back and felt the presence stop moving – as if to reformulate its plan. The human started moving again in his direction, but not towards the main entrance.

Duo sighed to himself and opened his eyes. He had unconsciously closed them when he was reading the human. Hopefully the scientist would've thought he was resting or something, because he wasn't paying attention to what was happening around him.

However, such a maneuver was a really bad move on his part. He looked over at the scientist who seemed to be injecting another chemical into the tank's water system. Panic and dread started to flow through Duo, which seemed to get across to the human he was communicating with earlier. Said human speed up his pace and seemed to almost be at the observation room. Duo wasn't sure how he had managed that – since the only door he knew about lead to and from the lab.

The scientist pressed a series of buttons on the filter and Duo was momentarily relieved when the chemical didn't enter the tank right away. /He's probably checking the gauges or whatever other gadget monitors me first. /

Duo suddenly shuddered as the life of the soldiers in the observation room quickly slipped away. He also felt remorse coming from the human he had been in contact with earlier. Said human, and another suddenly burst in from the observation room. Duo shuddered again as three more soldiers past away – one in the main room and the two guarding the main door. Two more soldiers burst in through the main door, but they were not wearing the same uniform as those of the base. The lab assistant was also killed, but Duo was in to much pain from the chemical entering the tank to notice.

It felt like an eternity before Duo was pulled out of his tank by a pair of strong hands. He attempted to struggle, but the chemicals had left him extremely weak. He felt a wave of reassurance wash over him and a female voice in his ear, telling him he was safe. He was vaguely aware of a towel being wrapped around his now human form.

Duo's last coherent thought was of Heero before he was once again covered by the black blanket of unconsciousness. / 'Heero' /

-8-8-8-8-8-

– Rebel Shuttle in route to the military base – One hour before arrival –

Something seemed off about the small blonde, which bothered the Earth rebels, but not the other Gundam Pilot or the Middle Eastern companion. The two of the already knew of the blonde's empathic abilities, as well as his hatred of battles and killing.

However, none of them realized the extent of what was bothering the young pilot. Nor would they be able to help in any way, except move faster in their mission. But such an endeavor would not be the best of ideas since it left more room for error.

/There is pain, but it's not coming from us. It feels like it's coming from the base. So much pain that's physical, mental and emotional. It's like there's something burning, a fire, working its way through their soul…Wait… the pain is fading… I hope we aren't to late…/

Suddenly Quatre spoke up, startling everyone with his voice, "Does everyone remember what you are doing?"

There was certain urgency to his tone which didn't go unnoticed by Wufei. "Quatre, what's bothering you? Why is there such urgency in your voice?"

"I have a bad feeling Wufei. There was so much pain coming from the base, it was over the distance we still have to travel and I still felt it full force."

"Master Quatre, why didn't you put up some kind of shields?"

"That's the trouble, I did have my shields up. But the pain was still coming through. It's faded now, but I'm worried that we might be too late."

The three Earth bound rebels looked at each other with surprise. They had no idea what the pilots were talking about.

"Do you need anything for the pain Quatre?" Sally, always the doctor, went for her bag.

"No, I am fine. It wasn't my pain I was feeling."

"Was it coming from the – thing – at the base?" Noin was quickly putting the pieces together.

"I believe so, yes."

Zechs seemed to remember something from the previous day's mission planning. "You said yesterday, you had a feeling whatever we were looking for was alive. Does that have anything to do with the feeling you're getting now?"

Quatre and Wufei shared a look. It seemed like Quatre's 'gift' wasn't as secret as it had been before. Wufei silently apologized for opening that particular can of worms, but at the same time both pilots knew this was an important mission, and everyone needed to be in top form, with clear minds.

They turned back to the rebels, "I am empathic. I can feel others emotions if they are being projected and I can reach out to others emotionally if I am in close enough proximity. However, I don't reach out a lot because it can drain my energy."

"Sirs, we are ready to touch down." The co-pilot came over the receiver putting a halt in the conversation. Everyone got into their seats and 'mission mode' as Heero and Trowa called it. They were all eager for this mission to begin.

As the planes came to a halt, Quatre and Wufei pulled their respective teams together and got into the jeeps. Both teams would drive to the designated entrance points and begin their parts of the mission. Zechs and Rashid would help unload the mobile suits and later begin the 'diversion attack.'

When team Alpha was at the entrance, Quatre carefully began to 'look' for the location of the 'prisoner,' as they decided to call it. As he located their target Quatre started going in the desired direction. The feeling he was getting was faint but traceable. He gestured to the team where they were heading.

If any of them were surprised to be going to the research labs and not a prison or holding cell, they didn't show it. Instead they took up their positions and followed after Quatre. As he went he felt the connection he made with the prisoner strengthen, a sign that meant they were getting closer. Suddenly Quatre felt the prisoner reach out to him. He gasped and stopped moving.

/He's also empathic/ Quatre sent back a happy response in return and turned to the team who were watching him with mild concern. He shook his head and smiled then continued moving.

The team was a few corridors away from the lab's entrance when negative feelings started coming over the connection. Quatre drew his hand up in a fist and pulled the other three into a janitor's closet.

"We're heading to the main door of the lab, which I think isn't the best idea. The prisoner seems to be sending me negative emotions. I think the lab is being guarded from more than just the entrance, but I can't be sure."

Sally's medical assistant, Billings, spoke up after a moments thought, "Maybe there's some kind of observation room in the lab with extra guards. One that's only accessible through the lab."

Quatre thought it over and nodded, "That would make sense. Billings, you come with me. We are going to try and get through to the observation room. Sally you and Snider take the original root."

"Sir, how exactly do you plan to get into the room?"

Quatre turned and pulled the ventilation cover down. "You're a little bigger than me, but we can manage. Sally, when we go into the vent give us three minutes to get to the observation room, then take down the guards at the main door. We'll let you into the lab after that point."

Both men pulled themselves into the shaft and started moving. Sally replaced the cover as best she could, to make it look believable, while Snider kept a lookout. Afterwards they proceeded down the hall towards the lab's entrance.

As Quatre and Billings made it to the observation room they immediately noticed the guards. Well, Quatre noticed and signaled back to his partner, who nodded. Quatre took aim and fired two shots in rapid session at the guards standing near the window. Luckily he had his shields up to a higher level. He still felt bad about the senseless killing in war. But for some reason those at this particular base couldn't be given the option of surrender.

Both rebels slipped into the room then looked through the glass into the lab, gasping with slackened jaws at what they saw.

"My God… Is that a…."

"I think it is…"

Quatre snapped out of his shock first as his watch vibrated, "Come on, we need Sally in here - now."

They burst into the room, killing the guards and someone who seemed to be a lab assistant, or lab technician. Billings let Sally and Snider into the room, but didn't give them a chance to react like he and Quatre had.

Quatre was doubled over, clutching his chest and breathing erratically while the scientist was backing towards a counsel, presumable to set off an alarm or two. Snider managed to stop the scientist, pulling him into a kneeling position near the tank, while Sally went to Quatre.

"Quatre, are you alright? What's wrong?"

"Fire…inside… and out… but it's not… me" He pointed to the mythical creature which was curled in a ball at the bottom of the tank, withering in what looked to be pain.

"Major!" Billings was looking over the tank's controls, "There is an electronic field over the tank, and I'm not exactly sure what chemical was used. It could be anything, based on the… uniqueness of the creature."

Quatre put up as many mental and emotional blocks, shields, and whatever else he could think of to get rid of the creature's pain. After about a minute he was able to think clearer and heard the last few words of what Billings said. He stumbled slightly but managed to make it over to where the tank was and immediately went to work with Billings to take down the electric field.

Sally and snider were busy questioning the scientist, who wasn't being to forth coming with information. "Look Doc. You have exactly 15 seconds to tell us what you used on the creature, or you will be joining him in that tank whether or not that shield is down."

The scientist gulped but didn't say anything.

"5….4….3…2…."

"Okay! It was chlorine, the same kind that is used in a swimming pool."

"Why should we believe you?"

"It's true!" The scientist started to panic, "The container is over in that bin if you don't believe me."

"We've got it!" The humming of the shield suddenly thinned out to nothing. Billings climbed onto the platform and pulled out a small container. He carefully scooped a sample of the water into said container and quickly sealed it. Quatre managed to start draining the water.

"Wait! It breathes underwater! Isn't that going to kill it?"

"It's going to die if we leave it in that water anyway. At least this way we can get it out and into clean water if need be." Snider, who had knocked the scientist unconscious, nun too gently, threw up a large pair of rubber boots to Billings.

"Put those on. When the water gets low enough, go in and grab the creature."

"Right." When Billings had the boots on, Snider and Sally got onto the platform with him. The water level was low enough that Billings could jump in and it would only go to about his knees. With a deep breath and a muttered, "canon ball!" he was in the water.

"It's definitely not acid; it's not eating away at the boots." He made his way over to the creature and with only a slight hesitation managed to pick it up. The creatures eyes were thankfully closed, but it was weakly struggling to get away.

Billings was able to hold onto the creature, but almost dropped it as it started breathing through it's nose and its fin slowly turned into a pair of long, pale legs with burn marks all over.

"SHIT!" The other three shared that thought, but managed to still get the creature out of the tank. Sally immediately began checking over the, human, while Snider pulled Billings out of the now empty tank. Billings quickly discarded the boots and went to help Sally.

"Status?"

"He's got multiple burns all over his body, and I can't be completely sure of the internal damage without a scanner. But I believe nothing is broken or fractured. Also along his ears are horrible burn marks, around what appear to be…gills. I don't want to give him anything for the pain though, incase it causes more damage."

"Sally can we move him?" Quatre's voice broke through her monologue. He still looked a little pale, but slowly getting better.

"Yeah, he appears to be unconscious, and his breathing is starting to even out more, so he should be able to make it to the vehicles. Get me a blanket or something to cover him."

A blanket was found and wrapped in it, then handed to Billings. "Let's move guys. Team Beta should have a way out for us, and the mobile suits should be here any second.

No body spoke as they made their way out of the building, each team member trying not to get lost in their own thoughts, and questions of the impossible. At the moment they still had a mission to complete.

But later, when the mission was over, and the – creature… was safely tucked away at their safe house. Then they would start to think about what they had witnessed today and make an attempt to understand.

And there was also the fact that they would have to explain this to the other pilots and rebel leaders. Who may or may not notice what was going on.

However, as they made their get away, none of them realized there was a tall man in what appeared to be a commander's uniform watching them silently through the observation room glass. All of them assumed that there was no other way into the room and since Quatre had taken care of the guards there was no need to go check again.

A slow grin came unto the man's face as he discretely left the way he had come, through a secret passage many did not know about. He had a lot to plan, and people to see, all about one once mythical creature.

-8-8-8-8-8-

End Chapter 5

LA: reviews? anyone?

Ok everyone here is the time line of events:  
**01 Self Destructs** - begining of the month  
**21 Days later** - Duo is taken off the drugs and awakens in Oz Research Facility  
**21 Days later** - Rebels Meet with Gundam Pilots  
**22 Days later** - Rebels and Gundam Pilots head out for their mission  
**23 Days later** - Rescue Attempt by Gundam Pilots and Rebels  
**24 Days later** - Heero wakes up, but it can't be felt by Duo.

Author's Notes Take 3: More to come at some point although I am not sure when. I apologize for the delay with this chapter. Hopefully the next one will not take as long.


	7. Of Myths and Genetics part 1

Title: A Fishy Adventure 6 of ?

Author: Little Angel

Disclaimer: I own not GW…. Tis sad… tear!

Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, other?

AN: I know it's been a long time between updates, and I apologize for that. I had student teaching last semester which left little time for updates, and I also went through a couple drafts of this chapter before I was happy with it. There is still more to it, so be warned that while this is a long chapter, it'll be longer still!

_Last Time…_

_Nobody spoke as they made their way out of the building, each team member trying not to get lost in their own thoughts, and questions of the impossible. At the moment they still had a mission to complete._

_But later, when the mission was over, and the – creature… was safely tucked away at their safe house. Then they would start to think about what they had witnessed today and make an attempt to understand._

_And there was also the fact that they would have to explain this to the other pilots and rebel leaders. Who may or may not notice what was going on._

_However, as they made their get away, none of them realized there was a tall man in what appeared to be a commander's uniform watching them silently through the observation room glass. All of them assumed that there was no other way into the room and since Quatre had taken care of the guards there was no need to go check again._

_A slow grin came unto the man's face as he discretely left the way he had come, through a secret passage many did not know about. He had a lot to plan, and people to see, all about one once mythical creature. _

8-8-8

Team Alpha quickly made their way through the halls with everyone focusing as much as possible on their mission. The prisoner was still unconscious, with no large visual changes in its behavior. His eyebrows would occasionally twitch, as would his eyes – even though they remained tightly closed.

/We need to get to the jeeps, then the plain. Once on the plane Sally can check him over and possibly give him something for the burns. /

As they drew towards the exit created by Team Beta, Quatre pushed a button on his watch and looked on as it immediately started flashing red. A couple seconds later it flashed green. That was the signal to show the coast was clear. It also let Zechs and Rashid know to begin their attack.

The team was able to make it out of the base with almost no incidents. They ran into a couple of soldiers, who were surprised to see them, but they were quickly taken care of. At that point, the alarms were going off – signaling a Gundam attack.

When they reached the van, Team Beta was already present and accounted for. Everyone prayed that none of the mobile suits would notice their get away. And while the members of Team Beta were curious about the long haired bundle, they made no mention of him.

A collective sigh of relief went through everyone as the planes came into view. Surprisingly it was Sally who assigned everyone something to do.

"Okay people, let's get going. Wufei you and Abdul get us airborne ASAP. Snider put the prisoner on a table or something smooth so we can strap him down. Billings you are with Quatre. Snider that goes for you to when we are in the air. Noin, I need you with me. Quatre, do not move a muscle. Nobody touch the prisoner unless on my order."

Abdul's voice came over the speakers, "Everyone strap in. We're taking off in 3 minutes."

Three minutes later the engine's roared to life and the plane took off. Sally was next to her patient, taking his vitals as best she could.

As the plane steadied out to the right altitude Sally gave a sigh of relief. "There's no change in his breathing and heart rate – from what I can tell. Okay people! I have patients that need to be checked!"

A chorus of "Yes Major" rang out across the plane.

"Sally, I'm okay. I just need to rest some when we get back." Quatre didn't dare move from the seat he was occupying from the beginning of the flight.

Billings started checking the blonde's breathing, heart rate and pupils, "Any nausea, cramping or headaches?"

"I'm a bit dizzy, if I move around to much. And I a slight headache from having my shields up so high, but I don't want anything for it. Thank you."

Billings nodded, "You are right about the rest. Your heart rate is a little faster than I would like, but your eyes are not dilated and you don't have a fever. How about you don't move from that chair and we'll go from there when we land."

Quatre nodded but otherwise did not make a response. His thoughts were turned inwards, to his shields. He was slowly taking them down to a less stressful level. As he worked to bring down the barriers, his thoughts started to wonder to the reason for said shields.

/Is he a human? Pulled into some experiment? What if it's a real mer… maid? Merman? Do they even have genders? Allah, this is so confusing. Although we probably won't get any answers until it wakes up. Wait, can it even talk like us? What if that chemical did damage to his vocal chords? …well if he has any. I'm not going to get any answers by sitting here thinking up more questions. We'll have to have a big talk when he wakes up. /

Quatre did not think he could reach out to their patient again. He was already drained to a very dangerous level and without sleeping for the next twenty four hours he doubted he would be doing much of anything.

/Hmm… sleep. That sounds like a wonderful idea. / Quatre drifted into a light sleep. He felt a familiar presence sit down next to him, which let him relax a bit further. /Wufei can play lookout for a couple hours…/

As Wufei steadied out the plane to the right altitude, he gave the controls over to Abdul and went back to check on Quatre and the other patient. /So he was a human after all. /

He looked around the cargo area; Billings, Noin, and Sally, were all working as well as they could on the patient. He appeared to have serious burns all over his body and the longest hair he had ever seen. There was not much he could do to help the trio, his eyes scanned on. Quatre was tucked away in a chair with his eyes closed and Snider was sitting off to the side. His face had a look of mild shock and calculation twisted together, eyes distantly looking over at the prisoner.

Wufei raised an eyebrow at the expression, but didn't comment. He had no idea what transpired with the members of team Alpha, so it was not his place to pass any judgment. He walked over and sat next to the blonde strategist, silently watching over him and taking in the workings around him. Wufei also didn't comment about his partner's apparent need for rest. /He must have over done it. Trowa's going to skin us alive if he's not better by the time they get to the safe house. /

The pilot raised an eyebrow at the conversation he heard between Billings and Sally. /Gills/ As much as he wanted to investigate further, Quatre needed someone to look over him and if the choice was between satisfying his curiosity and possibly become the new puppet for Trowa's circus show…. /There is that saying about cats and curiosity…/

Sally worked diligently on the plane, in an attempt to help their patient. The only problem was, she didn't know how exactly to treat him. His body was full of burns, and without being able to analyze the sample of the chemical added to the tank, she wasn't sure what was used.

"Major, I have the feeling the scientists used a diluted type of chlorine. It seems like he ingested it through these… gills… since there is more damage around this part of the skin than anywhere else." Billings gestured to the gills, but was extremely careful not to touch them in case it did more harm.

Sally also continued to look over the patient, "I agree, but without actually testing the chemical we can't be completely sure. And if that is the case, then we have no idea to the type of internal damage done, if it was ingested through those gills."

Noin was as baffled as Wufei, but since she was in the process of assisting Sally and Billings, she was in a better position to take a look at what they were gesturing at. She took one look at the area of skin in question and gasped, "Oh my god! How in the world is that possible?"

Billings looked over at his Lieutenant, "He's either the result of some kind of twisted experiment, or this is something else entirely. Personally, I'm not sure which would be better at this point…" A sudden idea struck him, "Major, why don't we try a burn cream on the external wounds. At this point there is nothing we can really do for the internal ones, but this way we are at least doing something for him…"

Sally seemed to consider it, "This is going against every doctoral instinct I have, but I am going to agree with you. I don't like this sitting around waiting, especially if there is the chance we can help him."

She started going through the medical bag they had brought along. "It would have to be a chemical burn type of cream. Hopefully we have some in here…. A ha!" She pulled out a very small container of the cream in question. It's not a lot but it's a start."

Both Sally and Billings put on their rubber gloves and started applying some of the ointment onto the worst of the wounds.

"Let's not do the burns near his… gills… I am not sure how the two will react." Billings nodded in agreement.

Noin, realizing she would not be of assistance any further, moved to the cockpit of the plain, intent on checking the communications between Zechs and the Maquanacs as well as give Abdul a rest.

The rebels, for the remainder of the trip to the new safe house did not speak much. The members of the rescue team were trying to process what happened during the mission, the others decided to give them time to process said information since they wanted somewhat coherent answers to their many questions.

As the plain passed over the ocean, Snider spoke up from his strange trance like state, a sudden idea passing through him. "Sally, what about salt water?"

Sally, who was not catching onto what the younger rebel was talking about, just looked at him questioningly.

"I just had a thought. What if we put him back in salt water, it might help his recovery."

Billings and Sally both started to catch on, "You're saying the salt water may have healing properties or vitamins that we don't know about, which might be compatible with his physiology!"

"If it works, then we have a better chance of healing his internal injuries as well."

Wufei, who was more than mildly confused as to what they were talking about, but would never admit that out loud, spoke up to point out a minor flaw with their plan, "Where exactly are you going to get a large pool of water, and what are you talking about – how would it help him?"

Quatre, who everyone thought was dosing next to Wufei, answered his questions, "He's been tampered with Wufei. We think that OZ did some kind of genetic mutation experimentation on his genes. When we found him, he was in a huge tank, filled with salt water and they were putting some kind of chemical in with him."

Quatre's eyes became glassy and he rubbed a hand over his heart as he remembered, "He was in so much pain."

"Quatre! You should be resting. How are you feeling?" Sally moved to where the two Gundam pilots were sitting and started checking over Quatre.

"I'm doing better Sally, thank you. I finally can get my shields down to a manageable level." And he felt no need to mention the mild migraine forming from said shields…

"But Wufei is right. Where are we going to get a tank of salt water? We can't very well drop him into the ocean – we still need answers to questions only he can answer right now." Noin piped up on her way back from the cockpit.

Everyone thought that over and Billings suggested, "What about a bath tube? That might work."

"We should have a large bath tube in the safe house. But I'm afraid that's it. I don't think he should go in a pool – even if it has been cleaned, because of the cleaning chemicals and whatever is left over from the chlorine used to keep it clean through the summer." Quatre sat back more in his chair after his contribution to the conversation. He started to doze off again.

"Okay! Here's the plan. When we land – Wufei, I want you to get Quatre situated in a bed. I don't care where, and I don't care how. But he is not to move until he's able to stay awake longer than five minutes. Billings, I want you, Snider and Abdul to get as much ocean water you can to that bathtub Quatre mentioned. Noin, I need you to help me move the patient into the house and get him to the bathroom. Then get the closest room available ready for him so we can get him bed ridden if this doesn't work."

Another chorus of "Yes Major!" and one snort rang out through the plane.

"I have news from Zechs and Rashid." Everyone turned to Noin as she spoke, "They finished demolishing the base and are heading to the rendezvous point. We suffered minimal casualties and I am happy to report that the base was completely leveled. They should be meeting us at the safe house at 0300 hours. I gave them a brief description of the prisoner, so they know what to expect when they arrive."

"That's great!" Exclaimed Snider.

"Did they say if there were any survivors?" Billings spoke up as well. The doctor in him not liking lose of life, but the soldier knowing it was all a part of war.

"No. As far as they know, anyone who was on the base at the time of the attack has been killed. The base itself has been pretty much leveled."

"I have a feeling we have missed something important." Quatre's quiet words broke the victorious silence that had overcome the rebels.

Sally, having misinterpreted Quatre's meaning, explained about the patient's condition. "Well, the prisoner isn't out of the woods yet. He seems to be stable right now, but that can change at any time and we don't have much to help him at the moment."

Quatre was not sure if the unconscious young man sitting next to them on the plain was the reason for his feeling, so he accepted Sally's explanation and remained quiet for the remainder of the trip. Maybe later, when he was more able to think properly, he would further examine this feeling. But at the present time, his mind was still not functioning up to its normal capacity, or potential.

Some might think something spectacular may have happened when the plain landed. Maybe some kind of joyous reunion in the form of a surprise return of the remaining two Gundam Pilots, or maybe even some of the Middle East soldiers welcoming them to the estate. However not even Quatre's sister, the one who was lending them her Earth side summer home, was present at the plane's landing. The landing itself was going to be extremely tricky, since they couldn't use the runways of an airport, and three quarters of the land surrounding the house was forest. The last quarter was the ocean and a long sandy beach.

The plane's break system was made for the water landings of lakes, which is part of the reason they had chosen this particular model. If anyone ran across the plane, they would believe it to be heading to the cold Tundra's of the north, or maybe the Tropical lands around the equator, dropping off supplies to the natives in those areas. However, the rebels were not going to the tundra's of the north, or the tropics around the equator. But they were going to need to land on the ocean and taxi up to the beach. The waves of the ocean in this area were not very high, but there were rocks, caves, coral, and all other types of ocean life and living areas to hinder the pilot.

Everyone sat tightly buckled and in suspense, as Abdul and Wufei attempted the landing of the plane. Carefully, they maneuvered over the waves and through the rocks and corals, onto the beach. Twice they were almost overturned by some of the higher waves, and barely managed to miss a hidden reef, being covered by the ocean's tide.

As solid land was felt by everyone on the plane, a collective sigh of relief washed over the rebels. Had Wufei and Abdul gone back to the cargo area at the same time as everyone exiting the plane, they would've gotten a standing ovation by their comrades.

Abdul and Wufei gathered the materials to camouflage the plane, while everyone else began getting the patient(s) ready to be moved.

The thought of letting their braided patient lose into the ocean, crossed the thought of all the rebels at one point or another, but it was dismissed since they didn't know enough about the situation surrounding his captivity or his condition. The chance that the ocean life would react badly to his presence was highly likely, and the chance that he might wake up while under the water and attempt to get away, leaving them all without answers; were the main reasons for dismissing that thought.

Quatre was also not up to the empathic task of "talking" with the patient in the water, which was another hindrance to letting him heal in the actual ocean.

It was best, the rebels conceded, to use the bathtub in the house; if it helps him, then he would be able to answer some of their questions, and if it did more damage, then they would already be in the position to handle damage control. If they were outside, they would still need to bring him back to the house, and moving him that far would probably do even more damage, possibly even taking his life or paralyzing him in the moving process.

Wufei and Abdul finished getting the materials for the camouflage and everyone moved from the plane. Billings helped Sally and Noin move the braided patient, and Wufei assisted Quatre into the house. Snider and Abdul began camouflaging the plane.

By the time Wufei and Billings returned outside, with a bunch of large plastic buckets, Snider and Abdul were finished with the plane. They all moved to begin filling the tub with as much water as possible.

When they finished the first trip into the house, the four men found Sally and Noin leaning over the braided young man who was lying on a single size bed in the room closest to the bathroom turned swimming pool. Quatre was lying on another single bed next to the braided young man. His eyes were closed and he was sleeping very lightly, but everyone knew he was far from getting the type of sleep he needed for at least another couple of hours.

Many hours and trips later, there was enough ocean water to fill a good three quarters of the tub. All four men sat back, mostly exhausted from the task, waiting to see how long Sally would wait to put the patient into the water.

Quatre was getting more coherent and able to stay awake for longer periods of time, but was resting again as the rebels made their last few trips of water collecting.

"Man, I don't think I can move at all. If I never go near another tub again after this guy is healed, it will be far too soon."

"We are going to wait until Quatre is awake again to try putting him in the tub. He just went to sleep, so why don't you gentlemen follow his lead and get some shut eye. We haven't had much sleep in the past twenty four hours, it will do you all some good." No protests meet Sally's words, as the men pilled out of the room to find some solid object to fall onto. Couches or beds, it didn't matter to them at this point.

"So you're saying that the ocean water may have healing properties that we aren't aware of, which may help him with all the internal damage caused by the scientists?" After a solid four hours of sleep Quatre was almost up to his normal level of coherence and mental functioning. He was also prepared to "talk" to the man/creature if he needed to and would be up to the task of keeping his shields up as well.

The other soldiers were more awake as well, the time they spent sleeping helped get them more focused on their task at hand.

"That's the theory," said Billings as he carried the young man over to the tub. He, Sally, and Quatre were gathered around one side of the tub, while the others stayed off to one side. They were close enough to assist if needed as well as watch the proceedings, but far enough to not be in the way.

Billings carefully placed the boy into the tub, they made sure that the only things on his body were the anklet, and his swim trunks, which were present when he transformed the first time. The burn salve, and any bandages were taken off by Sally and Noin as the others were resting.

Everyone stood with baited breath, and mild skepticism (from those of team Beta), as the boy was lowered into the water. Billings carefully levitated the braided man's body over the water by an inch. He was unsure of how to put him into the water, and finally decided to tilt his body slightly to one side and pull his hands away.

There was a collective jaw dropping and odd gasp from the rebels, as the slim burned legs transformed into one big fin, complete with the burns from the other form. The creature's body was now turned onto its back, close to the bottom of the tub, but he never touched the bottom. It was like his body was floating in the water. The large fin occasionally flipped, as though to steady the creature in the water. The anklet, which was wrapped around one leg, was now encircling the fin where the human ankle used to be. It appeared to be glowing in the water, although, the rebels wanted to believe it was more light reflecting off the water than the thing actually glowing.

None of the rebels were quite sure what to expect when they put the young man into the water. The four rebels who had not witnessed this transformation the first time, where extremely shocked by what was transpiring. This defied all laws of any science known to man. Creatures like this were supposed to exist in folk lore, or fairy tales. Not OZ science lavatories, being experimented on.

After only a few minutes everyone gathered around the tube began to notice differences in the creature's multiple burns. "Look!" Noin was the one to point out the burns seemed to be fading.

Upon closer inspection, Sally and Billings agreed that the burns really were fading. "It seems the ocean water will be able to heal him after all."

"Sally, the redness around his gills is disappearing as well. Maybe that means the internal damage is being repaired also!"

Sally nodded in agreement, "Hopefully he will be able to wake up when we take him out of there, and tell us a little more about how he got to be this way. Quatre, are you picking anything up from him?"

The blonde pilot had a small frown and a look of concentration on his face. He did not seem to notice the conversation going on around him. Nor did he seem to notice the apparently healing of the braided being in the water, even though he was completely focused on him. "Something's not quite right. But I can not put my finger on it."

The quiet statement startled everyone in the room. Wufei moved closer to the blonde pilot to give him extra support if need be. "What is it?"

Quatre's frown deepened, "I'm not sure. He's not reaching out to me like he was before. But I know he is aware of our presence in the room with him. He seems slightly confused, and can't figure out why the water feels so dead… I attempted to reach out to him again empathically to reassure him we are not the enemy, but he isn't responding."

Everyone looked at each other then back down at the water. With the occasional flip of his fin, the creature made no movement what so ever. It did not seem like he was conscious, let alone aware of the people in the room with him. How was he able to tell? He had not opened his eyes once, since the rescue, so where was he getting his information?

"How long should he stay in there?" Billings' question startled the other rebels. "He's been under the water for about a half hour now. Yet he hasn't opened his eyes once. Quatre says he seems to be conscious, so maybe he is just pretending to still be hurt."

"No," Quatre interrupted him, "He's not pretending. Some of his internal injuries haven't completely healed yet. The chemical did more damage to him than I think we realized at first." Quatre suddenly clutched a hand to his heart and started to hyperventilate. Wufei quickly grabbed his arm to keep him upright.

"Quatre, what's wrong?" Sally also went to his side.

"Can't… breathe properly… but, it's not… me…. Him…"

"Shit!" Billings startled everyone with his loud curse, "Snider, give me a hand. We need to get him out of there now."

Everyone except Quatre looked over at the creature. It seemed to be having difficulty breathing, and looked like it was drowning.

Without being told further, Snider moved to help Billings remove the creature from the water. The young being seemed to be fighting them weakly, but his eyes remained closed tightly. Between the two men, the creature was pulled from the water. Everyone watched as the fin melted away into two legs, one of which still had the anklet. They put the, now human, on the ground and moved slightly away as he started coughing.

Everyone moved away from the braided man, as he rolled on to his side, and coughed up some of the ocean water. He groaned slightly and wearily opened his eyes.

Quatre, who had stopped hyperventilating the minute the creature was taken out of the water, shakily moved so he was kneeling next to the young man. Wufei stood behind him, watching with veiled curiosity, as well as weariness for what the boy… would do. Wufei also motioned for everyone else to stay farther back. Quatre was the one best connected with the strange prisoner and even though Sally and Billings were itching to make sure he was out of immediate danger, they realized that their presence would do more harm than good at the moment.

Clear bright purple eyes landed on Quatre and the young man pushed himself back up against the tub he was just taken out of, sitting up and pulling his legs close to his body. There was no fear in his eyes, only a fleeting moment of recognition, then nothing.

/That look… those eyes…/ Quatre was instantly reminded of Heero. /I think he remembers me from the lab, but I don't know if he even understands our languages. This might be interesting…/

Quatre reached out empathically to the young man, to reassure him they were there to help him, not hurt him. Going on a hunch, he also decided to see if the young man knew how to talk. "Are you alright?"

Nothing. The man did not respond, nor did he change his facial expressions in the least. Quatre was not deterred though, and tried again in English and Arabic. Again, he had no luck.

An idea struck. Without turning to look at Wufei, keeping his eyes squarely on the young prisoner, he asked the other pilot, "Wufei, do you know when Trowa and Heero will be returning?"

Wufei was also watching the wet young man as well, "I am not sure. They should probably be here within the week."

/Aha! Gotcha. / Quatre smiled to himself as he saw recognition and glimmer of hope pass through the braided man's eyes. /He understands what we are saying. I wonder if he can talk. /

Quatre smiled slightly at the young man, "You know of Heero and Trowa?" The blonde pilot was startled slightly be the panic he was feeling coming across from the young man. Fortunately the only exit from the room was being blocked by Abdul and Snider, because Quatre was under the vague impression the young man wanted to get away from them.

"You are safe here, and among friends. Maybe we should introduce ourselves. My name is Quatre, behind me is Wufei, over by the door are Snider and Abdul, the other man is Billings, the lady with the blonde hair is Sally. We are rebels fighting against the people who had you locked in that tank in the lab. Do you remember that?"

Duo, from the moment he could form a conscious thought, was extremely confused and unsure of what was going on. He knew he was submerged in water again, but the tank, or whatever it was, was much smaller than the tank at the lab. He remembered some kind of rescue attempt, and someone that seemed to know Heero. That same person seemed to be in the room with him, as well as six or seven other people, only a few of which seemed familiar to him. He felt he was being healed by the ocean water, but for some reason the water felt dead… or was dying. /Why is that? It's never happened before…/

And for the life of him, Duo couldn't feel Heero. /I am just weak from whatever that drug was… I refuse to believe he is dead…. /

Time did not have much meaning for Duo at this point. He knew the ocean water was healing him, for that he was grateful, but the water still felt like it was dying. He just didn't know why.

The why of that came when he began to find it difficult to breathe. /The oxygen! Of course, the water is healing me, but there is nothing replenishing the oxygen. Which means I am probably not anywhere near the ocean… Are these humans trying to kill me to? Gah! I need to get out of this tank…/

As if reading his thoughts, strong arms wrapped around his fin and his upper body. Duo fought weakly against them/I hate when the humans touch me…/ but there was nothing he could do to stop them. He felt himself leave the water and took in a big breath, or at least attempted to.

Some of the dead water was caught in his lungs. He was placed on the ground and quickly rolled on to his side in an attempt to cough up the water. He felt the water leave his system and groaned. He opened his eyes and sat up against the tank he was just in, pulling his legs close to his body and making himself as small of a target as he could muster.

Duo noticed the blonde young man sitting close to him/that must be the empathic human that knows Heero./ He felt said young man reach out to him with reassurance and knew he was correct in his guess.

"Are you alright?" Duo was very careful not to respond to the human, he wasn't sure if he could completely trust them yet, even if they did know Heero.

However that plan was completely shot to Hades when the blonde mentioned Heero's return to wherever they were. /Heero's coming here/ Duo was not fast enough to clamp down on the hope that he felt soar through him with that thought. /Wait, what if this is some kind of trick…/ he started to panic as the blonde mentioned Heero again.

/I wonder if I can get out of here…no there are humans blocking the exit….great…. wait friends/

Duo took stock of the people in the room as the blonde, Quatre, mentioned their names. /The lab… of course I remember that lab…. / Duo forced himself to hold back a shudder at the memory, and hesitantly nodded at Quatre's question.

/They did help me… and they know Heero… so maybe I can trust them/

The rest of the conversation was momentarily put on hold as another female human enter the small room carrying a blanket. Duo was instantly on alert, even though he was still pretty sore, as the female came closer to him.

"Hi, my name is Lucretiza Noin, but everyone calls me Noin. I thought you might be cold, since you were just taken out of the water." She moved to hand Duo the blanket, although he wasn't about to take it ad leave his hands occupied. Noin noticed his hesitation and shrugged, putting the blanket on the floor next to the young man.

"Do you have a name?" Quatre's question brought the young man's violet eyes back to him. Even without his throat feeling sore from the chemicals then coughing, he wasn't going to tell them his name. He just shrugged/I don't know how much I can trust them, and I don't want to give them too much information if I can help it. /

"Can you talk?" Duo just looked at the blonde.

"Quatre," Sally interrupted the conversation, "I would really like to get him moved to the bedroom, or something and check him over, to see how much damage is left."

Quatre nodded and started to stand up, Wufei held his arm just in case. Once he could stand without feeling like he would fall over, he held his hand out to the braided young man. "We're going to have to think of a name for you, but until then let's go somewhere a little more comfortable."

Duo hesitated slightly then reached out to grasp the blonde's hand. As their hands touched, Duo felt a spark of something go through him and gasped, bringing his hand back to his chest. Quatre was also reeling back in slight alarm into Wufei.

"Quatre?" Wufei caught the other pilot, and helped stabilize him.

The blonde looked over at Sally, "That was strange, almost like static electricity, but more intense." He looked back at his hand in wonder. As their hands touched, the blonde pilot felt a connection to the young man, the feeling was gone now, but for a second he felt the other man's emotions and thoughts. Hope, hesitant trust, mild panic, confusion and a strong pull towards not being touched were among the most prominent emotions.

A growl pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked over to see Duo making himself even smaller than before, shielding away from Snider, who looked to be trying to help him up. Quatre realized at once that the young man had been the one to make that noise. /At least we know he has vocal chords, hopefully they weren't damaged to badly … /

"Snider stop, he doesn't want to be touched." Snider pulled away from the braided man who was looking at all of them wearily.

"Can he stand by himself though? Most patients don't usually get much say in getting help around you know…" Billings was curious, but completely serious with what he said. He was tempted to just go over to the purple eyed youth and bodily pick him up soon.

"Why don't you use the blanket, so he isn't touching your skin?" Noin piped in as the voice of reason.

Snider nodded and picked up the blanket. He addressed the patient, "look, Quatre says you don't want to be touched, which I can understand. However, I don't think you are well enough to be moving around on your own yet."

Duo sighed, that was as best as he was going to get, he knew, and there was no way the other humans were going to touch him as well. /I'm not taking the chance. Quatre must be some special breed of human. Who knows how many of the others here are like him/

Snider cover the blanket around Duo's shoulders, then slowly helped him to stand. He made sure he did not touch the braided boy's skin in any way. The boy took a second to gather his feet about him, and keep steady, but he was able to stand. Neither wanting him to be up any more than necessary, they began moving towards the door. Everyone standing their moved out into the main room standing by if the pair needed assistance.

Duo's steps were small, and he was having some trouble staying up right, but he was determined to get to their destination without being carried. /These humans keep referring to me as boy or young man. If they only knew…/ He resisted the urge to snort. /I guess Heero was right about that. Although, there is no need to let them know how old I really am….they might start calling me gramps or something… then I might have to kill them – allies or enemies. /

The braided patient didn't let his thoughts wonder any further, since a great deal of his concentration was on keeping upright long enough to make to a bed and even then, it was beginning to waver.

Duo sat down heavily on the bed as they came upon it, breathing heavily. The blonde woman, whose name Duo couldn't remember at the moment, was approaching with something around her neck that he couldn't identify – although he saw many of the doctors wearing them at that Oz lab, and a bag with a red cross on it. He eyed her warily as she continued to approach.

"Sally just wants to make sure you are alright." Duo did not turn from the lady, Sally's approach, even as he registered Quatre's words. He would have moved, had be been able to do much other than attempt to breathe deeply. But even that effort was affecting him somewhat negatively.

Sally seemed to notice his distress and stopped her approach a few feet away from the end of the bed. Billings, who was moving to check over Quatre, also stopped.

"The distress might be coming from his time at the lab. I remember a couple of the white coats had stethoscopes on while they worked there as well." Billings moved to get the young man's attention; purple eyes darted over to him briefly in acknowledgement but then returned to Sally again, since she was the one closest to him. "I am going to check over Quatre as well. Why don't I check him first, then Sally can check you the same way. We are not trying to hurt you, but we need to see the extent of your injuries."

The stand off between the two men continued, until Duo finally relented. His energy was beginning to leave him, and he needed what little strength he had left for the upcoming check up. He wanted to at least be conscious when they were near him with anything the human's considered medical, so it was better to just give in.

The braided man sighed and nodded, then attempted to get his breathing back under some semblance of control. /Damn, I need some water. I don't have time for a starring contest with these humans… / He could almost feel his body start to dehydrate.

Mer-people were creatures of the sea. They lived, breathed and talked with the ocean's currants, and watery oxygen supply. When they wanted to come to the surface, they never left the water long because it was such an important part of their lives. Even when they were in a human form, their bodies were used to the feel of the ocean, the water in and around their bodies, which meant that they needed to drink a lot of water, fresh or salt, in order to keep their bodies hydrated.

In their case, the fresher, wasn't always better either. The ocean contained large quantities of salt, which is just one factor making it different from the fresh water of the in-lands. It usually took twice the amount of fresh water to keep the human turned mer-people hydrated because of the differences found between the two types of water.

The injuries Duo sustained at the hands of the scientists and doctors, was another reason for him to stay as hydrated as possible. For reasons that were literally unknown to man, the ocean water had some healing properties for its occupants. Maybe it was the combination of salt and oxygen, maybe it was some kind of bacteria, or maybe it was something we would consider mythical. Duo's body was attempting to use the ocean water to help heal his injuries, however, since be was not submerged like he should've been, his body was not getting a steady supply of that "special something," which was helping him.

To a much lesser degree, (minimal really) fresh water could be used to heal his injuries; however, he was not near any kind of lake, or large body of fresh water to submerge in. He was stuck drinking enough water to keep his body hydrated and would have to let his body heal the human way. The damage would take longer to mend, and the chances of scarring, or long term issues with his breathing or walking/swimming were extremely high.

His anklet would help his chances of getting out of this scar free and as healthy as before he was caught, but it could only do so much.

Quatre seemed to pick up on something he was feeling, or maybe it was left over from their brief skin to skin contact from before, but he spoke up to Wufei, "Can you get us some tap water please; maybe a large jug and a couple glasses so the water is on hand for later."

The pilot of Nataku nodded and while he was reluctant to leave the room, he knew the request was more for their potential ally than him. At the moment, Quatre was the for-most authority figure on the man-fish (he refused to think mer-man at this point), so any suggestions he made were taken as orders.

Duo's shoulders relaxed a margin, and he sent a quick but grateful glance at the blonde pilot sitting in the other bed. Quatre knew he was right on with his suggestion and was relieved he would be able to further help their new friend.

Billings and Sally moved over towards the beds, careful to stay within the braided man's sights, yet not touch him yet. Billings began examining Quatre, explaining what he was doing and why, as if to help the patients understand why they needed to check them over. It was really more for the braided man than anything, but Billings thought it would be wise to give Quatre the same check up as he would be receiving from Sally so there would be fewer problems/misunderstandings.

"I'm going to start by checking your breathing Quatre. Take a deep breath in, now exhale. One more time. And again. This is to make sure your lungs are not clogged with anything harmful. Yours seem to be in fine shape. Now I'm going to check your ear drums, and eyes. Good, now follow the light with your eyes. Open up, and say 'ah.' This is to make sure your throat is not scratched up, swelling up, or overly irritated." He also quickly felt under his throat on the outside as well.

Billings nodded and as he stepped away asked, "Do you feel lighted headed, dizzy, nauseous, or have a headache?"

"Only when I stand up, or attempt to walk too far." Quatre nodded over to the other man sitting on the other bed. "That's the basics of the check up. Sally might want to check your ribs to make sure nothing is broken, and they might want to give you some more of that burn cream they used on the plane ride back, but other than that it's the same thing."

Duo looked between Quatre and the two doctors standing at the end of his bed. /I really don't have much choice in this. I might as well get it over with. /

Duo nodded and Sally stepped up to him smiling slightly. "We really need to think of something to call you. Any suggestions?"

Duo shrugged. He couldn't talk with his throat burning any more than it was, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to give them his name unless Heero was there with him.

"Hmm, we'll think about it and get back to you then. For now, I'm going to do the same things Billings did with Quatre, and I'm going to try to touch you as little as possible."

Duo nodded and braced himself. The stethoscope was cold against his skin, but in a refreshing sort of way. He took the obligatory deep breaths, and had to stop himself from coughing up a lung.

"Woah, try a smaller breath. You're lungs are still healing from that chemical and the water from before. Good. Now I'm going to check your ears." Sally was careful to not touch the gills behind his ears. She wanted to study them, but now was definitely not the time for that.

Wufei came back into the room as Sally was finishing with Duo's ears. He had two glasses full of water, as well a large pitcher also full. He set the pitcher down on the night stand between the beds and handed both Quatre and Duo their cups. Quatre took a sip of his first, and smiled at Duo, encouraging him to take a sip. Duo did, but mostly because he definitely knew his body was in serious need of some kind of water, he wasn't going to be picky at the moment.

Sally stepped away from him as he downed the entire glass and reached for the pitcher. She intercepted his hand, and refilled his glass. Duo downed about half of the second glass before letting Sally back over to finish the examination. He was going to sip the rest of the glass at a more sedate pace since he wasn't sure how much water the humans were going to let him have. It was better to attempt to pace his water in take, until he could get up and move around. He saw a sink in the bathroom he would be able to use later that night if need be.

Sally turned on her pen light and moved closer to her patient to examine his eyes. She barely had the light up at his eyes, before his pupils contracted to dots and red began to encircle the small dots that were his pupils, over riding the violet color they were out of the water. He hissed and pushed Sally away from him, covering his eyes with the hand not holding the glass of water.

/Ow, ow, ow, ow! It's burning! Crap! It hurts/ Duo lifted the glass up to his eyes, and very carefully poured some water into his eyes, almost like he was wearing contacts that were dried out. He looked at the ceiling for well over a minute, not blinking or removing the water from his eyes, yet occasionally he would add more water.

Everyone watched, transfixed, as the water seemed to be absorbed into his eyes. When the braided man finally looked down, his pupils were back to their normal size, with absolutely no red surrounding them. He glared mildly at Sally.

Sally held up her hands in a surrender position, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize your eyes would react that way to the light. I still need to check them – but I'll see what I can do without the light. Is that alright?"

Duo kept his shoulders tense, but nodded to allow Sally closer to him so she could finish her exam. The blonde doctor kept her word though, and was very careful to not use the pen light around his eyes again.

The rest of the exam went surprisingly well considering the circumstances. Duo didn't have any more adverse reactions to any of the method's Sally used to finish her exam, and the results were more expected to the doctor than anything else. Sally reapplied the burn cream to his exterior wounds, and wrapped his chest, in an effort to help stabilize his lungs and ribs. Duo was not too comfortable with the contact, but knew it was necessary if the humans were to leave him alone or at least sleep.

Sally also noticed how quickly his body seemed to dehydrate, which didn't puzzle her as much, considering his reaction to the pen light. Whether his condition was from genetic enhancements, or just some myth turned real, the boy's body needed a lot of water to stay hydrated when in his present form. She ordered bed rest and a couple more jugs of water brought up to the room.

Duo, upon hearing those orders, relaxed even more. It was becoming clearer to him that they were attempting to help him, even with their lack of information on his condition. It could've been some kind of elaborate OZ plan, but at this point he didn't care as much as he probably should have. Sally had kept her word after the pen light incident, and had ordered for more water to be brought up for him. Maybe he was too tired to think straight, but he seemed more inclined to trust them.

At least until he got more sleep and was thinking more coherently. Duo finished his second glass of water and laid his back against the bed. He was vaguely aware of many of the people leaving the room and a quiet conversation going on near the bed next to him, but it was all of little relevance to him. The last thought he had before sleep consumed him was centered on his missing soul mate. /I can't tell if I felt him, or if it was Quatre…. Heero where are you/

-8-8-8-8-8-

Chapter 6 is being split into two parts, because this seemed like a good noncliff hanger ending type place... the next chapter will be out sooner rather than later... i again apologize for the delay in this one.

Also to come are some edits in previous chapters, so when I post the rest of this chapter be on the look out for those as well... (an AN will be left at the bottom of the chapter with specific changes made to earlier chapters.)


	8. Part 2 Of Myths and Genetics

Title: A Fishy Adventure 6?

Author: Little Angel

Disclaimer: I own not GW…. Tis sad…

Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, other?

/'THIS'/ is telepathy

/THIS/ is thought

"THIS" is normal talking

_Last Time_

_The rest of the exam went surprisingly well considering the circumstances. Duo didn't have any more adverse reactions to any of the method's Sally used to finish her exam, and the results were more expected to the doctor than anything else. Sally reapplied the burn cream to his exterior wounds, and wrapped his chest, in an effort to help stabilize his lungs and ribs. Duo was not too comfortable with the contact, but knew it was necessary if the humans were to leave him alone or at least sleep. _

_Sally also noticed how quickly his body seemed to dehydrate, which didn't puzzle her as much, considering his reaction to the pen light. Whether his condition was from genetic enhancements, or just some myth turned real, the boy's body needed a lot of water to stay hydrated when in his present form. She ordered bed rest and a couple more jugs of water brought up to the room._

_Duo, upon hearing those orders, relaxed even more. It was becoming clearer to him that they were attempting to help him, even with their lack of information on his condition. It could've been some kind of elaborate OZ plan, but at this point he didn't care as much as he probably should have. Sally had kept her word after the pen light incident, and had ordered for more water to be brought up for him. Maybe he was too tired to think straight, but he seemed more inclined to trust them. _

_At least until he got more sleep and was thinking more coherently. Duo finished his second glass of water and laid his back against the bed. He was vaguely aware of many of the people leaving the room and a quiet conversation going on near the bed next to him, but it was all of little relevance to him. The last thought he had before sleep consumed him was centered on his missing soul mate. /I can't tell if I felt him, or if it was Quatre…. Heero where are you/_

Quatre was aware of their new ally as he fell into sleep in the next bed over. "We should call a debriefing so everyone can get onto the same page with the mission. I think we should hold it in the next room over, so our patient can sleep undisturbed."

Wufei nodded, although he was hesitating about leaving the braided boy alone for the time being.

Snider and Noin left for the kitchen, in hopes of making everyone sandwiches so they could get something in their stomachs. It was close to dinner time, and it had been at least a day since everyone ate a full meal. Snider idly wondered if the kitchen had enough bread for that many hungry soldiers.

Sally and Billings were busy writing down notes on a pad, and putting away their medical supplies. Billings also collected a sample of the tub water to compare with the water sample they took from the lab. He then emptied the water and using a wash cloth, ran fresh water through the tub and washed off the sides and bottom, in an attempt to get rid of whatever chemicals came out of their patient's body.

Abdul checked the communications between Rashid and Zechs, to make sure they were still on schedule with no mishaps. Within the hour, the rebels and pilots converged into the room with him, everyone intent on getting a debriefing as to what was going on with this patient. When Snider and Noin walked in with a huge plate of sandwiches and tall glasses of water for everyone, a silent cheer went up.

Everyone gathered up a couple sandwiches and began eating, lost in their own thoughts and questions. The members of the beta team were extremely curious as to what happened on the other team's side of the mission, and team alpha was attempting to gather their thoughts and theories on what happened, with out making it seem like some kind of weird science fiction tale.

As the group finished their sandwiches, Quatre began the debriefing, "As I briefly mentioned on the plane to the base, I am empathic, which means that I can feel others emotions and occasionally if I am connected closely with them, reach out to them as well. This was extremely important because the prisoner, as we found out later, is also empathic. I was reaching out for his presence to get his location within the base, which he felt and responded to.

"When he first reached out to me the connection was very distant, however the closer we got to him the stronger it became. Because of the stronger connection he figured out which way we were coming from as well as where we would enter the room at and warned me against that route. Billings and I went through the ventilation shaft to get to the observation room where there were indeed guards. I shot them and we entered the small room. We looked through the window to see who was in the lab and were slack jawed by what we saw.

"The prisoner was in a large tank, in his non-human form with burns all over his body. A doctor had injected a chemical into the tank and he was being to feel the affects of it. We let in Sally and Snider as I immediately started feeling the prisoner's pain from the chemical. I had to have my mental shields up at such a high level to keep the pain I was feeling at a slightly manageable level."

Quatre shuddered at the memory, "I can only guess what he was feeling."

Billings also added to the discussion, "I was not sure if I was imagining things when we were in the observation room but I did get a good look at his eyes, they were blood red. I couldn't tell if it was because of the tests being done to him, or if that was his natural eye color…either way it was extremely eerie looking at them. However, when he came out of the tub here his eye color was purple. I thought at that point the redness was due to the testing from the lab, but then again when Sally put the pen light to his eyes they began to turn red. Just based on those observations I believe the redness might be a type of defense mechanism so he doesn't lose his eye sight. But I would need to run some tests to learn more. I don't believe more testing would go over well with him either."

Wufei summed up the information for the rest of them, "Basically, we know this prisoner was being held and experimented on by Oz, although why that is, is still a mystery. He has empathic abilities similar to Quatre's, and for other reason's unknown he is part…fish."

Noin posed the next question, "was his other form the result of genetic manipulations, or are we to believe it is something else? Sally would you know?"

Sally shook her head, "As far as I know, I do not believe scientists have gotten so far as to be able to genetically alter DNA and genes to the degree of the prisoner. But then again I was also unaware of the Gundams development in space prior to their decent to Earth.

"We also have to take into account our initial mission parameters from Heero's informant in the colonies; that whatever was at the base would be of use to us later. And as far as I know the scientists that engineered the Gundams aren't that far advanced to be doing genetic manipulations either."

Snider spoke up as well, "So are we saying that we think that this prisoner that we rescued might actually be a real **_mermaid_**?"

Noin amused answered, "Well, the correct terminology would be mer**_man_**, really. Since I highly doubt he is female."

"But still! That just makes it all the more unusual. I mean, the last I heard, merpeople didn't exist - at all." Snider, even though he had been a part of the original team to help the patient out and had thought up the suggestion of using sea water to help heal him, was having a bit of difficultly wrapping his head around the idea of mer-people.

Quatre, after is initial start at the debriefing, had not said much until now. He was thinking over everything they had learned so far, and listening to the questions and answers being presented. "Actually, if he was a mer-man, it would make a lot of sense. The empathic abilities, the sea water's ability to heal him, his unwillingness to have people touch him. I know that much of those examples can also be explained as a type of genetic manipulation, but at the same time I don't believe man kind is that advanced quite yet."

"Master Quatre, if I may, I remember a little prior to your decent to Earth, there were attacks being made against Oz's underwater facilities, and bases surrounding the ocean areas. I believe this may have something to do with that. And if the prisoner was the rebel staging those attacks, since I don't believe it was your groups," Abdul looked to Sally and Noin, who both answered with a negative, "maybe he is trying to protect something under the water, something like his home?"

"Didn't those attacks stop right around the same time 01 self-detonated?" Billings' curiosity bought forth a half forgotten memory to Quatre's mind's eye.

/ _It felt like an eternity before the prisoner was pulled out of his tank by a pair of strong hands. He attempted to struggle, but the chemicals had left him extremely weak. He felt a wave of reassurance wash over him and a female voice in his ear, telling him he was safe. He was vaguely aware of a towel being wrapped around his now human form. _

_The last thing Quatre felt/heard before the prisoner was covered by the black blanket of unconsciousness was a whispered thought in his head / 'Heero' /_ /

The blonde pilot sat up straight and looked around the table at the others who had moved on to discuss other things about the prisoner.

Although, Quatre wasn't paying them any mind at the moment - things were being to click into place for him. The prisoner knew Heero, it showed through his mask of indifference. The prisoner was telepathic as well as empathic. He didn't like to be touched by humans; a spark of something went between them when he attempted to help the prisoner up. Underwater base attacks prior to operation meteor, that stopped around the same time Heero self-detonated.

The order's from Heero's scientist to destroy the base and bring back whatever was inside of it; Heero's own reluctance to be around or be touched by other people; the prisoner's mask of cold calculation that reminded him so much of his wounded friend…

They were connected. Of that Quatre was positive.

Quatre was brought out of his Einstein-ian thoughts when he noticed all conversation had stopped, and everyone was looking over at him with slight worry.

"Are you alright?" Snider sounded concerned.

"Is there anything wrong with our guest?" Sally looked like she was about to go into the other room to check on him.

Wufei answered his unspoken question, "You were looking off into space with the most peculiar expression on your face. We were trying to get your attention for the past five minutes. Care to share your thoughts?" It was an open-ended invitation, so Quatre didn't have to answer if he didn't feel it was necessary. And in this instance he knew it was not his place to say anything about the puzzle he had just put together.

Instead, Quatre shook his head and inquired as to what the others were discussing. "I was just thinking about the mission overall. Sorry about getting side tracked like that. What were the rest of you discussing?"

Wufei knew the blonde pilot well enough to know he wasn't going to tell them what had him so distracted. He summarized what the others had talked about just before, "We were just discussing what should be done to help his healing processes. We know he would be able to survive in the ocean's water, but some of us are reluctant to let him venture out into the ocean unaccompanied since we don't know what he would do once healed."

Quatre processed that and nodded, "I want to talk to him about that. It would be extremely beneficial to all of us if he was to be healed and we wouldn't have to worry about any really bad relapses. He might even be able to communicate with us using words when his vocal cords are usable again."

"So with that, who is going to help him out to the ocean to heal?" Noin stopped the protest she could see in Quatre with her next words, "We know Quatre, that you have the best connection with him at the moment, however, I highly doubt you would be able to carry him out to the water if it came to that – especially with how he reacted the last time you two had skin on skin contact."

Quatre frowned, but realized Noin was correct. "Sally should come, incase there is some kind of medical emergency. But that still leaves us with someone to help him get to the water. No, wait! Billings will come with me instead of Sally. That way we have a medic on hand, and the less people the better, I think. I don't believe it would be a good idea for all of us to go out there with him. He might take it the wrong way and leave." /And the less people there, the better for me to talk with him unnoticed…/

Billings spoke up, "Why don't we take him out tomorrow morning, that way we all have a chance to get a full nights sleep so we will all be more coherent to deal with whatever mishaps pop up as well as the other pilots' arrival."

Snider spoke up as well, "Does anyone know when Zechs, Rashid and his men will be back?"

Abdul answered that question, "They should be scheduled to land tomorrow in the evening at some point. Rashid will use that night to get the planes refueled and we will be heading off to lead Oz on a marry chase away from our home. It is unsafe for us to be in one area to long as Oz is rather suspicious of us."

"And by that time, our friend should be well enough to explain a few things to us about his imprisonment," said Snider. The others mirrored his thoughts.

"Tomorrow, why don't Sally, Snider and Wufei all go into town separately and get us some more food and medical supplies while Quatre and Billings take care of our patient. Abdul and I can monitor the communications network for "Gundam sightings," Zechs and Rashid, or anything unusual about Oz." Noin laid out that particular plan which the others promptly agreed to. It was logical for some of them to gather supplies and it would give Quatre and Billings a chance to get the patient healed and some what more comfortable without a large crowd there to interfere. Plus everyone was about ready to get a few more solid hours of sleep in.

The group adjourned to their respective rooms – Quatre and Wufei in with the patient, Noin and Sally together on the ground floor, with Snider, Billings and Abdul splitting up the night watch hours.

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Dark oriental eyes snapped open with a shot.

Something was not right.

From the lack of light in the room, the pilot could tell it was still some time until morning. Without sitting up, his eyes moved around the room, adjusting to the lack of light as they went, while checking on the other occupants.

There.

/Kisma! Where did he go! …and how did he leave the room without me knowing/

It appeared that their patient was well enough to move around on his own – as indicated by his lack of presence in his assigned bed.

Wufei sat up and silently started making his way to the bedroom's door. He was about to open it, when a slight noise from the bathroom caught his attention. The Chinese pilot knew he would've heard the bedroom door close, no matter how silent their patient was and decided that he probably was in the bathroom and not wandering around the house.

He decided to forgo his gun, but kept his sword close at hand, just incase. It wouldn't do them any good if he accidentally shot the boy then asked him what the hell he thought he was doing up at this hour.

He also didn't want wake the rest of the house's occupants with a gun shot; and especially not Quatre who would have his head of a silver platter for shooting the boy.

As Wufei neared the bathroom door, the noises became a little more pronounced. He heard the sounds of running water in the sink, and if he listened closely someone breathing. There appeared to be only one person in the room, from what Wufei could tell, but again he wasn't taking any chances.

The Chinese pilot quietly slipped through the door and took in the surroundings of the room. The room's sole occupant was the braided youth, who as of yet, had not noticed Wufei's presence. Or if he had, he was doing an excellent job of hiding it.

Wufei put his Katana away and leaned against the door frame, observing the youth. The boy was filling the cup of water that they had brought up for him earlier that evening, and drinking it down.

He repeated the action a couple more times before finally filling it one last time and turning off the faucet. The braided youth turned around, intent on going back to bed, when he caught sight of Wufei standing in the door way.

Duo's eyes widened in fear and he tensely backed away from the teen standing in the door way. Fear almost over came him, until he realized who exactly it was blocking his exit. He then realized his hand holding the glass was shaking, and if he wanted to actually drink this water and not wear it, he was going to have to calm down. He noted the sword the teen was holding, and made no move to leave the room or acknowledge the weapon.

/What was his name again…Wu…Wufei? That sounds about right. I hope I only woke him, and he's not here on some insane need to kill me…/

Wufei, remembering the boy either couldn't or wouldn't talk quietly shut the door so as to not wake Quatre. He also put his Katana on the bedroom side of the door before fully closing it, in an attempt to help calm the boy down.

With that task complete he quietly spoke to the boy, "Why are you out of bed at this hour? You should be resting."

Duo, for his part hadn't moved and was still tense, even with the lack of sword in the other youth's hands. He shrugged and held the glass of water out pointing to it, then himself and took a sip. While he still didn't know these people very well, he was not about to give them reason to try and hurt him. He still had a mission to complete.

Wufei frowned, "There were jugs of water next to your bed; did you not see them there?"

Duo nodded, than downed the glass of water. He pointed to the door then turned the glass upside down, as if to say 'I drank them already.'

The Chinese pilot was usually not one for guessing games, but his inner scholar seemed to be catching on to what the boy was trying to say.

"You drank all that water already? And you're still thirsty." It wasn't a question, merely a statement of curiosity.

Duo nodded, than refilled his glass in the sink. Somewhere along the line his hand stopped shaking even though he was still tense – something they both noticed.

"Do you need assistance getting back to bed?"

Duo shook his head no but made no move to leave his little corner.

Wufei nodded then opened the door. He picked up his Katana and moved back into the room quietly. He noted Quatre was still sleeping, or at least pretending to sleep so as to not startle the boy further.

Duo took a few sips of the water, refilled the glass, and than slowly made his way back to bed. He deliberately did not let his eyes wonder to the window in the bathroom, which he knew showed the ocean and the beach. He didn't think he could handle looking at it so closely yet having it so far out of reach. Wufei, he noted, had picked up the empty jugs with a raised eyebrow.

Wufei took the jugs back into the bathroom and turned on the faucet for the tube. He put the jugs underneath and let them fill so the boy had more water to drink.

/Sally was right; the boy needs to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. I wonder how much of that is because he's sick and how much is because of something else. / When he returned to the room, with the refilled jugs, the boy was completely under the covers of his bed. Two violet eyes stared out at him from under his cocoon of blankets, a bit of gratitude shinning in them.

Wufei placed the jugs within reach of the boy, nodded his head and moved back to bed. He heard a grandfather clock chime three times and realized he could still get a couple of hours of sleep in before waking again. As he lay down, the Chinese teen's last thoughts were of different routes the three supplies gatherers could take to get into town separately, before succumbing to sleep.

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"Billings, when we get to the water, why don't you check the plane for any medical supplies we may have left. That way if something happens to our friend here, we can have something on hand." Quatre, Billings and the braided young man were slowly making their way through the forest and to the ocean. While the sun was rising and brightly shinning, the light was having a bit of trouble making it's way through the trees of the forest the group was currently walking through.

Quatre had woken up that morning to the sight of Wufei and their patient in the bathroom refilling the jugs of water. Well, Wufei was refilling them; the braided boy was drinking them down almost as fast as they came out. He explained to the boy that they were going to take him out to the ocean, since the ocean water seemed to work well with healing him but the rebels wanted his word he wouldn't attempt to get away.

The boy had merely raised an eyebrow, gave a small smile and nodded his head. Quatre knew he wouldn't be leaving them any time soon, and he gave a smile of his own. All of which lead us to Quatre, Billings and the patient stumbling through the forest while on their way to one of the shore's coves. The area in question was a bit farther way from the house and where they came up on the beach, but it was more secluded and private.

Billings knew that Quatre wanted time alone with the patient for reasons only known to him. He would make sure the boy made it into the water without hassle, and was actually healing, then head over to the plane to check the medical supplied left in it.

The lack of much sun light coming through the thick trees was slowing down the trio, but they soon managed to make it to the secluded cove. Duo was close to collapsing and mentally rejoiced at the sight of the waves splashing on the sand. Quatre and Billings were both winded from the trek, but were ready to help the braided boy if he showed signs of needing assistance.

There was a small rocky beach surrounded on one side by a steep cliff and large boulders along the grass. The trio stopped at the edge of the beach, the rebels not quite sure where to let their braided patient enter the water. Duo solved the problem for them by slowly making his way over to the large boulders covering the grass. Quatre caught on to where he was going and stepped over to walk with him, Billings falling in step behind them.

Duo carefully stepped up to one of the boulders and slowly moved out towards the water. He breathed in deeply to smell the ocean air. The water lapped at the edge of the rock, and small drops landed on Duo's legs as he grew closer to it. He turned his back to the water to look at his escorts.

Duo smiled at them impishly, saluted, and fell back-first into the water. Quatre smiled at the amusement he felt empathically from the braided boy than ducked away from the water edge as the splash of water came up at him.

Quatre could feel the joy coming off the braided boy in waves, even though they couldn't see him. He nodded over to Billings, who took that as his cue to head off to the plane. "I'll be back in a few hours." With that he turned and went back through the trees.

When Quatre could no longer see his comrade through the thick trees, he sat down on the edge of the boulder and took off his shoes and socks, to let his feet dangle into the water. He looked out over the water to see if he could spot their braided friend. While the water was relatively clear, Quatre couldn't see anything under the waves.

After almost an hour, Quatre felt eyes on him. He turned towards the waves and smiled at the two red eyes watching him from about 200 feet into the waves. He also saw the brown bangs of their friend just above those eyes. Quatre waved when their eyes made contact. The red eyes seemed amused about something and the next thing Quatre knew, they were gone – and a few seconds later he was no longer on dry land.

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Duo felt the water surround his body when he back splashed into the ocean. It was a wonderful feeling. He felt his body begin to heal without the water surrounding him feeling dead, he felt the call of the ocean life, like it was welcoming him home – near by schools of fish and coral flowers sending him greetings. But the best feeling for Duo was the freedom. The only close by humans he could sense were Quatre and farther away, Billings. The others he knew were split up between the house and the near by town and that was it!

It took nearly a half hour for the ocean water to work its magic on Duo's body, healing him to perfect health. He shot around the ocean floor conversing with some of the more intelligent animal life under the sea, and just getting a feel for the area he was in. /Quatre saved my life, with the help of those other humans. There's something different about him though. He felt my emotions and was able to communicate that way. /

Speaking of communicating/Heero/ Duo concentrated and was able to faintly feel his soul mate. /He's either in his human form, or to far away for me to talk to him. / Either way Duo empathically sent out a strong sense of love towards his koibito, hoping he would be able to feel it.

Duo poked his head above the water so only his forehead and eyes were hitting the air. He looked over at the blonde pilot sitting on the rocks waiting for him. /I wonder if there's anything I can do to thank him for everything/

When Quatre made eye contact and waved, Duo felt a light bulb go on in his head and his eyes lit up in amusement. Like a shot he was at the rocks where Quatre was sitting. He grabbed the blonde's legs, and careful to pull him in a forward way so he wouldn't bang his head on the rock, pulled him under the water.

Quatre gasped, or at least attempted to since he was underwater faster than he could get air into his lungs. He fought against Duo, who was holding his arm keeping him steady and sending calming emotions at the blonde so he wouldn't panic or worse swallow more water. Duo pulled them to the surface, keeping a firm grip on the blonde's arm, at which point Quatre began to tread water and cough for air.

When Quatre could breathe again, he glared mildly at the odd being holding his arm. "You could've warned me you know."

Duo had the decency to look mildly apologetic, but the amusement was still lurking in his eyes. He tugged on Quatre's arm in a downward motion and lifted an eye brow. Quatre raised his eye brows and took a few deep breathes before sliding back underwater. Duo grinned and joined him under the waves, glad his friend wasn't hurt from his antics.

/'Open your eyes.' / Quatre's eyes shot open, giving him a blurry picture of the ocean's life below the waves and a pair of red eyes right in front of him.

/Did he…/ Duo smiled at the confused look on the blonde's face and nodded his head. He started to pull his comrade with him towards the corals surrounding the rocks they were both briefly on earlier. He remembered to continue to send calming feelings towards the blonde to make sure he didn't start panicking when he needed to breathe again. He also did what he could to help the blonde see clearer, although there wasn't much he could do at the moment.

Quatre shook his head at hearing the merman in his head and started swimming with him towards the coral. He occasionally felt the scales of a fin brush against his pant legs reminding him he wasn't alone.

However, because Quatre was a human, he needed to breathe air like humans do. When he felt his lungs begin to burn for fresh air he started to swim towards the surface, or at least attempted to, since the merman refused to let go of his arm or let him swim up towards fresh air.

Duo turned back towards his human friend and smiled reassuringly. He then pulled them close and locked their lips together in, had they been on the surface, what could've been considered a very heated kiss.

Quatre, who was unaccustomed to anyone other than Trowa kissing him on the mouth like that attempted to pull away. He didn't get far however, because Duo had a good grip on his arm and the other snaked around to keep his head in place.

/'Don't be afraid.' / Quatre stopped struggling when it was apparent he wasn't going to get away. Although, it also probably had something to do with the fact that he was in serious need of air at that point.

Quatre felt the merman's tongue pry open his lips, but keeping their mouths locked together. Both of them had their eyes wide open, Duo so he could gauge how well the blonde was fairing, and Quatre because he was definitely not going to close his eyes – mostly for personal reasons.

/'Breathe the used air out of your nose, and take in fresh air through your mouth.' / Quatre blinked, still not quite used to someone talking in his head, and did what he was told. Huge air bubbles left his nose and, taking a chance, he began to pull air in through his mouth.

Surprisingly for the blonde fresh air made it down his throat and into his lungs! His eyes widened at the realization, and he felt/saw amusement in the braided being across from him. /So that's what he was doing/

When Quatre was sure he could hold his breath again by himself, he closed his mouth and pulled away from his braided friend. As if sensing what he wanted, Duo let the blonde pull away and reaffirmed his grip on his arm, before turning back towards their destination.

They stayed under the water for about an hour after that point with Quatre getting air from the merman when he needed it, mostly without him having to say anything either. The longer they stayed under the water Quatre also noticed his eyes adjust better as everything become less blurry.

Unfortunately, Duo sensed the approach of Billings and began pulling Quatre towards the surface so they wouldn't scare the doctor. Quatre pulled himself up onto the rocks, then stepped back to make room for the merman.

Before getting out of the water, Duo starred out over the waves. As if coming to a decision, he turned back towards Quatre. /'My name's Duo.' /

Duo then jumped on the rocks and pulled himself out of the water. He missed the feel of the ocean as he left it, but was reassured that it was close by.

Quatre held out his hand, "I'm Quatre. It's a pleasure to meet you." There was laughter in his eyes. Duo smiled and shook his hand, ready for the slight shock when their hands touched. It reminded him of his soul mate, but he attempted to brush the pain away before the blonde felt it.

Quatre looked at him with understanding as their hands came apart. Suddenly something dawned on him, "my clothes…I'm soaked!"

Duo snickered and handed the blanket over to the blonde just as Billings arrived. "Quatre! You're soaked! What happened? Are you alright?"

That got Duo chuckling and Quatre mock glaring at the braided man. "I'm fine Billings; Duo here decided that I might like a swim…"

"Duo?" The doctor quickly caught on, "OH! Hi, it's a pleasure to finally have a name for you!"

Duo nodded in greeting. Billings turned to Quatre, "Did you pick that name, or did he tell it to you?"

Quatre nodded at Duo, "He told me. Right when we were getting out of the water."

Duo raised an eye brow and gestured towards the trail leading to the house in a slightly sarcastic manner as if to say, "Are we ready to head back?"

Billings frowned, "You said he talked to you?" The trio started making their way back towards the safe house.

Quatre nodded but didn't elaborate. Duo, for his part, was starring innocently at Billings with wide violet eyes. Later, when asked, the two other rebels would swear they could see a halo circling the braided man's head, before he winked and quickened his pace back to the house.

If walking with no shoes bothered Duo, he did not let it show in his stance and the other two figured they would only say something if he did first. (Neither realizing how long of a wait would be in store for them on that particular front.)

When the trio arrived back at the safe house, they were greeted by the friendly faces of Noin and Abdul. The pair reported no news from either of the groups flying in, but Sally and her group reported in that they would be back by mid afternoon.

Billings and Quatre reintroduced Duo, by his proper name to the others who were happy to have something to finally call him. He then herded his two wet companions upstairs, so they would have the chance to change and towel off in Quatre's case. Duo's body seemed to have absorbed the water on the way back to the house – something that Billings later wrote in his observations note book.

"Here Duo, you're closer to Wufei's size and he has given us a pair of running pants and a sleeveless shirt for you to wear." Quatre handed over the clothes, which Duo took without question. He nodded his thanks to the blonde when he was finished changing in the bathroom.

"Wufei is picking you up a few pairs of clothes in town as well, so you can have your own;" Noin stated from the door way, "now gentleman, lunch has arrived!"

The five of them sat down to a quick lunch of soup and sandwiches in the debriefing/radio room, in case someone reported in. Noin and Quatre did the dishes while Billings took Duo back to his room for a post ocean check up, to make sure the braided man was doing alright.

"There are no major problems, and the things that were plaguing you earlier seemed to have healed completely!" The young doctor was careful not to use the pen light near his patients eyes either, something Duo was very grateful for.

When Duo was cleared as healthy, everyone was relieved. Sally, Wufei and Snider arrived at different points that afternoon, all having gone into town separately and from different directions. The supplies were stored away, dinner was prepared, and Duo was reintroduced to the rest of the rebels who had part in his rescue/care.

It didn't escape anyone's notice however, that Duo never said a word to anyone, and the amount of fresh water he drank was much less than the previous evening. It seemed that since his body was readjusted to being "human" and he was no longer in danger of dying, his system reverted to that of a human's. This was mostly a theory on Sally and Billings part, but the others were all in silent agreement about it.

Why he wasn't talking, however, did have Sally concerned. Quatre's word that the braided man did talk to him while they were alone was the only evidence she had heard to the contrary, so she wasn't quite sure what to think.

"I just hope his vocal chords weren't damaged in anyway," was her conclusion to the problem at this point in time.

Duo would only shrug off any inquiries about his lack of talking and move on to explore something else in the house. The rebels decided to wait until after Rashid and Zech's group arrived before taking any action. That way they could catch up the other two on what they had found out about their braided friend, as well as give him time to adjust to being around them.

Snider theorized Duo might just be shy, "Maybe he's just shy? I mean we just meet him, and aside from the whole rescuing him thing, I don't know if he thinks he can really trust him, you know? It may be a defense mechanism."

Zechs radioed in that the group would be arriving around 2 o'clock in the morning, so Noin, Sally, and Quatre decided to wait up for them. Everyone else turned in around eleven o'clock, although no one really got to sleep right away. They were all excited or curious about the arrival of Zechs and Rashid.

Their arrival was really anticlimactic, in the sense that they arrived unwounded – just really tired. Supplies were put away, food was eaten, couches were made up, and everyone was asleep within the hour.

It was the next morning that caused the big stir around the house, when the rebels heard a scream and all came flooding downstairs to see Duo being held at sword point by Zechs against the far wall.

"Zechs NO! Don't hurt him! That's Duo, the boy we rescued from the base!"

Zechs relaxed his posture and removed the sword, but glared at the boy, "What in the world were you doing?"

Duo, for his part was terrified. He had awoken early that morning for some unknown reason and had headed quietly downstairs to make some cereal. He had passed the living room, where Zechs and Rashid were sleeping and noticed that Zechs had lost his blanket during the night. He was about to recover him when he found himself pinned to the wall and clutching the blanket, with a sword against his throat. He did the only thing he could think of – scream at the top of his lungs.

The fact that Zechs had backed away from him when the others arrived only slightly helped the situation. Quatre slowly moved closer to their braided friend, "Duo? Can you tell me what happened?"

Duo pushed himself closer to the wall at Quatre's approach. He wasn't sure what to think anymore about the rebels. His breathing was erratic and Zechs' angry voice was not helping him at all. Quatre projected calm emotions towards the braided boy and thankfully his breathing began to even out and some of the terror began to leave his purple eyes.

Duo pointed to the blanket, then motioned to the tall blonde holding the sword at his side. Quatre caught on quickly enough, "You were going to cover him with the blanket."

Duo nodded, and then glared over at the tall blonde, whose name was apparently Zechs. He threw over the blanket, not caring that it fell at his feet when the other man made no move to catch it.

"Duo!" Sally suddenly exclaimed, "You're bleeding!"

As if to help prove her point, blood began to trickle down Duo's neck from the nick Zechs' sword had made against his skin.

Quatre, who had already dressed that morning, pulled out a handkerchief and handed it over. "Here, this will stop the bleeding. He didn't get the vein, thankfully."

Snider stepped between Zechs and the duo near the wall. "I think introductions should be made here. Duo, this man is Zechs Marquise. He works with Noin, Billings, Sally, and me. The other tall man is Rashid, who works with Abdul and occasionally with Quatre." He turned to Zechs and Rashid, "Gentlemen, this is Duo."

Duo nodded to both of the new rebels, but still made no move to speak.

"It is a pleasure to meet the boy I have heard so much about," said Rashid.

"I believe I owe you an apology. I don't usually react well when I sense people hovering over my bed. One too many years in the military does that to you."

Duo lightly glared, then shrugged, as if to accept the apology. Beside him Quatre gasped, touched his chest over his heart, and turned towards the front door, right as it began to open.

The others all had their guns out and pointed but Quatre stopped them by putting up his hand. "It's the others!"

Wufei seemed to realize what he meant, because he immediately put his sword away. The rest of the rebels were confused, but still lowered their weapons.

The door opened to reveal a tall uni-banged boy with one green eye showing, and a smaller Japanese looking boy with dark blue eyes, who closed the door firmly behind them.

Before Quatre could get out his greeting to Trowa and Heero, and before the others could stop him Duo was across the room tackling the blue eyed boy, whose eyes widened at the voice, which sent them both over the back of one of the couches to the floor, in the mass of blankets Rashid had been using with a small "oomph" and groan.

"Heero!"

The last of the Gundam Pilots had arrived.

**End Chapter 6**

**AN**: ehehehe… well, everyone did want Heero and Duo to be reunited right? ()dodges thrown projectiles()

More to come soon! (coughs()ihope()coughs)

Over all I just fixed the time line settings in the previous chapters. And we should all be caught up to the same point in time for this chapter.

I hope some of your questions have been answered…. If they have that's great! If not…. Don't kill me! (I write slow enough as it is! Death would really just delay the fic even more…..) >.>


	9. What the hell is going on here!

Title: A Fishy Adventure 7a of ?

Author: Little Angel +

Disclaimer: I own not GW…. Tis sad…

Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, other?

WARNINGS: Heero **is not** the emotionless bastard he appears to be in the series. With that said... :hands out tissues to anyone who may like to take one for this section of the chapter:

_Last Time…_

"_It is a pleasure to meet the boy I have heard so much about," said Rashid._

"_I believe I owe you an apology. I don't usually react well when I sense people hovering over my bed. One too many years in the military does that to you."_

_Duo lightly glared, then shrugged, as if to accept the apology. Beside him Quatre gasped, touched his chest over his heart, and turned towards the front door, right as it began to open._

_The others all had their guns out and pointed but Quatre stopped them by putting up his hand. "It's the others!"_

_Wufei seemed to realize what he meant, because he immediately put his sword away. The rest of the rebels were confused, but still lowered their weapons._

_The door opened to reveal a tall uni-banged boy with one green eye showing, and a smaller Japanese looking boy with dark blue eyes, who closed the door firmly behind them._

_Before Quatre could get out his greeting to Trowa and Heero, and before the others could stop him Duo was across the room tackling the blue eyed boy with a soft exclamation of "Heero!", whose eyes widened at the voice, which sent them both over the back of one of the couches to the floor, in the mass of blankets Rashid had been using with a small "oomph" and groan._

"_Heero!"_

_The last of the Gundam Pilots had arrived._

Sally reacted as soon as she heard the pair tumble to the floor. One of them was injured from the sound of that groan, and since Duo was recently healed that left the newly arrived Gundam pilot. She put her gun away, and motioned for backup as she moved around the side of the couch to check on the pair. Noin and Zechs immediately moved to cover her.

However, before the ex-OZ specials could come to close, they were on the receiving end of Trowa's gun, which was pointed right at them.

The tall pilot also reacted as soon as he saw the blur move toward his wounded comrade; however what he saw stopped him from making any attempt to pull the braided boy away. Heero glanced up at him and barely shook his head, signaling his comrade that he was fine. The shorter pilot then redirected his attention to the body residing on top of him.

As Trowa saw Sally move closer to the pair as well as Noin and Zechs pull their weapons out again, he took action to stop them from doing something they would later regret.

Wufei, who was rather confused as to what was going on, but willing to back up his fellow pilots, followed Trowa's lead and held Billings, Abdul, Rashid, and Snider away from the couch with his sword pointed at them and his gun drawn. All the rebels noticed the way the Gundam pilots worked like one mind, and barely a word spoken between them. Although it was slightly disconcerting to be on the receiving end of said team work.

Sally managed to get close enough to Duo to pull him off the pilot under him, when she heard a growl come from the braided man. He turned his head slightly to glare at her and tightened his hold on the blue eyed boy under him.

"EVERYBODY FREEZE!" Quatre's normally calm voice cut through the room like lightening during a light rain of drizzle.

It also froze every living being where they were standing, or lying.

It probably helped that they all realized the normally calm blonde seemed a trifle…upset…with the scene in front of him.

"Now. _ALL_ of you will put away your weapons." Everyone holding a weapon slowly returned them to their holsters then resisted the urge to put their hands up in the surrender position.

"Very good. Sally, Noin, Zechs, please step away from the couch. Duo, would you be as kind as to help Heero up?" The three commanders of the rebels slowly backed away from the couch.

When the braided youth thought they were far enough away, he slowly helped Heero to his feet. When they were both standing Duo put one of Heero's arm's around his shoulders then placed both his arms around the dark haired pilot's waist, as if to help him stand.

It didn't pass anyone's notice that said hands were under Heero's shirt making skin to skin contact, nor did he seem to mind as much as they thought he would. However, since the long haired boy seemed about ready to kill, if the gleam in his eye was any indication, no one thought it would be wise to make light of those observations.

It also didn't pass anyone's notice how Heero seemed to position himself in front of the braided youth as best he could given the situation.

Quatre definitely noticed, but with his space heart he knew there was more going on at the moment that didn't need to be a public display. "Duo, why don't you show Heero and Trowa to our bed room so they can put their bags away? Rashid, would you like to stay here any longer today or would you like to be back in the air?"

As soon as Quatre was finished speaking, Duo nodded and started pulling Heero towards the stairs. The pair was confident Trowa was right behind them.

Rashid thought it over briefly, "It would be best for us to return to our home as soon as possible. Abdul can fill me in on what's been happening so far, and if there is anything else dire that arises, you know how to contact us."

Quatre nodded, "I know we all have a lot of questions as to what has been going on lately, some of us more than others. However, we have four newly arrived members of our team here who need time to become organized or ready to leave again. Why don't we take the morning to get food in our systems, cleaned up, ready to go, or whatever else needs to be taken care of around here then have a group meeting after lunch in the communications room. Sally, I know you want to examine Heero, but that will have to wait until after the meeting. Besides, if I know Heero, he'll probably tell you he's fine anyway and not in need of medical assistance."

That earned him a chuckled from the blonde doctor. "You're probably correct on that front Quatre."

The pair's amusement at the situation helped reassure everyone else that everything was fine at least for the time being. They all moved to finish their morning routines, and get ready for what promised to be a day full of many surprises, some better than others.

**-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-**

A shock, similar to that feeling you get when you rub your feet on a rug then touch something electric would be the best way to describe the feeling going through the reunited bond of Duo and Heero. When Duo collided with his soul mate the normally very small connection between them in their human forms flared into something larger than anything either of them had ever felt.

Maybe it was because of the circumstances surrounding the reunion, the near death experiences the pair had felt, or even the huge distance separating them while Heero was in space for those years. Or maybe it was the fates taking pity on the trials they had to face. Either way neither one of them wanted to analyze the _why_ of the stronger bond. They were to busy soaking up the closeness they felt, along with the knowledge that the other was safe.

Their breathing melded together like they were two sides of the same wave. As Duo breathed in, Heero breathed out and vise versa. Duo laid his head against Heero's chest, noting the bandages but ignoring them, in favor of listening to Heero's heart beat.

It helped calm the braided merman down a lot. And while they still couldn't communicate telepathically, like they did whilst in the water, they were both pretty much mirroring their thoughts as well:

/ Thank the _gods_ he's _alright_. I can't believe he came back. …Never leaving him alone again. It's been far too long. I hope he's alright…/

And even though they were completely wrapped up in each other, they were also still aware of the fact that they were in a room surrounded by at least ten of their _human_ comrades and rescuers.

When Sally moved to touch Duo, he growled in an attempt to keep her away. This was _their_ moment, and he'd be damned before he let any of them interfere or try to break them apart.

Rescuers or no, they would be extremely sorry when Duo was through with them.

Heero also motioned for Trowa that he was alright. He was very grateful when Trowa got the message right away and proceeded to give them cover should they need it from the Oz rebels.

"EVERYBODY FREEZE!" Quatre's normally calm voice cut through the room like lightening during a light drizzle of rain.

Thankfully Quatre stepped in before any blood was shed. The pair was extremely grateful for his help and each made a silent vow to repay the two humans for their assisstance.

"Very good. Sally, Noin, Zechs, please step away from the couch. Duo, would you be as kind as to help Heero up?"

Duo was reluctant to give up any of his hold on his soul mate, but at the same time, he wanted to be alone with Heero much more. He waited for the rebels to move away and then helped Heero to his feet. At all times they were as physically connected as possible, even if it was as small as grasping hands.

Duo was glaring at all of the humans, daring them to make a move towards them and Heero situated himself in front of Duo as best he could given their arm positions.

/Good, we can talk for a bit without interruption. I hope the tall guy with one eye showing doesn't mind if we kick him out of the room as soon as he drops his bag…/

Heero mirrored his koi's thoughts, only with a slightly more courteous way of asking Trowa to scram for a while. He also wanted to question Quatre to see how much he knew considering the way he reacted. Heero had a slight idea, but he wanted to be sure before he said anything one way or another.

The trek up the stairs felt like it was taking forever, but finally the trio made it to the master bedroom where Quatre, Duo and Wufei were bunking together.

Trowa closed the bed room door and was about to set down his bag when the long haired youth very carefully slammed Heero into the nearest wall, efficiently trapping him in place. If the look in his violet eyes was any indicator, he was royally pissed at his comrade.

The uni-banged pilot was about to interfere when Heero spoke up, his eyes never leaving the violet orbs glaring at him, "Trowa, I don't suppose you could give us a few minutes alone to talk?"

Trowa had an inkling as to what was going on, and since his shorter friend made no move to get rid of the threat the braided youth presented twice now - a feat he himself would only do if it was Quatre, he decided to leave them alone for a while. Quatre would be up shortly to greet him and they would also be able to find a place a lone for a bit as well. Quietly Trowa set down his bag and left the room, closing the door behind him. He wouldn't go far from the door, incase someone decided to check in on the pair unannounced.

Heero heard the door click closed and knew Trowa would be right outside guarding it until Quatre came up. "Duo, I-"

"I don't know whether to beat the crap out of you for doing whatever the hell you did, or kiss you to death because you're alright." Duo's tone and words cut Heero off before he could say more than his koi's name.

Heero's eyes were full of sorrow, "I'm sorry Duo…. I know you're angry at me and I know a simple sorry isn't the best way to apologize for what I did either."

"What happened? Why was there so much pain, and why couldn't I feel you when I was in the water the other day?" To reiterate his point, Duo tightened his grip on Heero's arms, using the force and the physical contact to stabilize himself with the knowledge that Heero was _not dead_.

"We were fighting a battle in Siberia when Oz decided to threaten the colonies unless we gave ourselves up. Dr. J, the scientist who issued me the Gundam for the war, came over the communications channel and gave his reply to the threat, 'He surrendered but he would not turn over his Gundam.' We had talked prior to my return to Earth about the consequences of me getting caught – with or without the Gundam and we couldn't risk it. With the ankle bracelet and the other pilots around, I had a better chance of survival if I had blown up the Gundam. If I was caught and interrogated…Oz would've gotten more information than _any_ of us could afford getting out. Blowing up the Gundam was supposed to be a last resort and neither of us thought we would use it."

Duo knew both logically and from personal experience that Heero was speaking the truth. "Why couldn't you warn me about that when you returned to Earth?"

"I was constantly on the move or held up by meddlesome people…. There was no safe chance for me to get to an ocean to talk to you. And sending an encoded message via computer could've been traced, or compromised." Heero moved his own arms up so his hands were stroking Duo's arms.

"I was monitoring your mission as well. You should've been out of the water and on Howard's ship by the time Oz came on with their big announcement about the coloni…" The look on Duo's face however, stopped Heero's thought process for a moment.

Duo averted his eyes and tightened his hold on Heero's arms. In a split second Heero added up his koi's behavior, the questions Duo asked, what he knew about the mission Quatre mentioned to him and Trowa, and _why_ Duo was standing in a room of a house with the OZ rebels/Gundam pilots after said mission….

Heero gentle moved one hand up to Duo's chin and turned his back so they were facing each other properly again. Duo, however, kept his eyes averted.

"….you were in the water…." The revelation struck Heero to the bone with horror and dread. It took all of Heero's will power to stay calm for a minute to question Duo about what happened. However, he had a very powerful imagination and when it was combined with Duo's affirmative answer; his will power didn't stand a chance.

"I couldn't get to the ship. I was being followed by an Oz submarine in the vicinity that wasn't supposed to be there from the intelligence I had from Howard. When I completed the mission the sub caught it on their sensors and came to investigate. They somehow managed to lock onto me and as I was getting away I was hit with this tremendous pain and blacked out….the next thing I knew, I was in some kind of tank, drugged, with humans surrounding me…."

Duo shuddered at the memory and glanced at Heero. Or at least he attempted to glance at Heero, as he suddenly found himself caught up in a bone crushing hug. "Koi, gomen nasi, I'm so sorry, are you alright? How bad were you hurt? Were you able to get into the water once you were out again? Oh gods, this was entirely my fault I should've done something more to make sure you were safe…"

Duo sighed and relaxed into the embrace. He had Heero back and at the moment that was the most important thing in the world; the nightmares they would be able to deal with later… _together_. "Heero?"

The normally bright blue eyes were full of tears, and Heero had such a look of sorrow and pain – something Duo had never seen before and never wanted to see again on his soul mate's features.

"I should've done more to make sure you were okay Duo… and because I didn't you were hurt."

"Heero, there's no way you could've known I would be in the water when you did that. We can't communicate like normal when we're like this. You know that."

"I could've contacted Howard…."

"They would've traced the line. You know that as well as I do. There was nothing you could've done…. Just like there was no way of me safely knowing about your 'last resort' plan…"

Heero looked Duo directly in the eye, noticing a certain darkness in them that wasn't there before he became involved in the war – before he was caught, "I just never wanted you to experience something like that love."

Duo wiped away some of his koi's tears and gave him a small smile, "Well how do you think I feel when you came back from all those missions with such a haunted look in your eyes? I never know if what I am doing is enough to help bring you back to yourself."

"Just being you is more than enough to help me through anything. It's how I survive these missions; it's why I never lose faith in what I am fighting for. It's all because of you."

Duo's smile became bigger, "Well now we can help each other. Just because I was found out by the humans doesn't make me love you any less. It wasn't your fault that I was caught and it's in our past, we'll deal with it as we go. Just like every other time."

Heero chuckled and gave a small smile of his own, "You're to smart for your own good, oh wise one."

Duo just winked at his other half, his lips twitching. "Just don't tell that to Hilde! I have an image to maintain you know!"

They both lasted about five seconds before bursting into full blown laughter.

This was how the other Gundam pilots found them not five minutes later, leaning against the wall and giggling like mad. The three pilots had varying reactions of shock. Trowa merely raised an eye brow in silent shock, Wufei in a state of complete disbelief and Quatre's jaw fell to the floor in amazement. All of them were slowly edging towards their weapons as a precautionary measure.

Heero was the first to recover from the giggling fit. The pent up emotions and stress was finally relieved. Duo was safe, and the others were the reason for that. He was fairly well also, and had Trowa to thank for his health.

He glanced over at his comrades then back at Duo, "Trowa knows."

Duo recovered a little slower from his giggling fit, and was completely serious when he glanced over at the tall pilot then back at Heero. He nodded then gestured over at Wufei and Quatre, "They know as well."

"The others?"

"The tall blonde one and the really tall one with Quatre, I'm not sure how much they know yet, but all the others were on the inside part of the mission."

Heero and Duo shared a silent conversation before turning to the other pilots… and almost started laughing again at their expressions of disbelief, which were still plastered on their faces.

Heero was the first to speak, "Trowa, this is part of the reason for not being able to tell you everything during our conversation when I woke from the coma. Quatre, Wufei… I would like to personally thank you for rescuing Prince Duo… He's very important to our people and his death would've brought another force into the war…. One no human would stand a chance against."

Heero bowed to both Wufei and Quatre. Both pilots could only reflexively bow back. It seemed like Wufei's jaw was unable to work either, as it joined Quatre's on the floor. Trowa merely raised his other eyebrow. He had suspected something like this when Heero didn't stop the braided boy from tackling him – injuries and all, but a _prince _was definitely a shocker!

Quatre, ever the diplomat, was the first to get over his shock, "It's an honor to make your acquaintance –"

Duo cut him off, "If you call me 'Your Majesty' or any variation there of, I _will _be forced to throw you into shark infested waters."

Trowa glared lightly at the threat against the blonde, but Quatre chuckled, sensing the braided merman was mostly joking.

"We would appreciate it, if you did not share Duo's status with the others. It's not something we want shared…We've told you, because I know you are trust worthy, and because you have all had such a big hand in our survival this past month." Heero looked the other three pilots in the eye as he spoke, to help convey the importance behind his words. If word got out about Duo being the prince of a thought to be mythical race…. He shuddered at the very thought.

Duo, who sensed what Heero was thinking, just moved closer and rubbed his koi's arm. The others noticed, but didn't comment.

Instead, Wufei, who's jaw had also reconnected itself with his mouth, sarcastically said, "he speaks! Sally was getting extremely worried something was wrong with your vocal chords. Obviously they are fine though."

Duo chuckled and attempted to look innocent at the same time.

No one bought it for a second. Heero playfully tugged his braid. "Baka. You shouldn't tease the humans like that. It's not good for their hearts."

Duo snickered. "Yes mommy." He got another tug on his braid for his efforts.

Quatre spoke up before the pair could continue their banter. It was good to see both of them smiling so freely, and he hated to interrupt, but lunch was about ready and it was time that everyone had something to eat. He said as much and everyone agreed.

Heero pulled a couple bottles out of his pack and handed one to Duo before they went downstairs. Duo opened it and took an experimental sip as they walked to meet the others.

"What's this?" It was surprisingly good.

"A type of mineral water. They have it over in Italy, where even the fresh water isn't something you would want to drink. They don't put chemicals into it, but they do siphon out the pollution. It also has helped Heero heal a bit faster than normal fresh water would. Or so he has told me." Trowa said as way of explanation.

Lunch was a very interesting affair. Everyone was in and out of the kitchen at different times, getting coffee, making their sandwich, or just sitting around talking. The dinning room opened out to the living room, so the couches were pulled up and used as well as the table.

The Gundam pilots and the braided enigma shared one couch, with Wufei grabbing a chair and sitting on the side of Heero, and Trowa grabbing a chair and sitting next to Quatre, with Duo between the two of them. It didn't escape anyone's notice how the pilots seemed to be barricading themselves around the braided boy, or how close he and Heero were sitting.

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One of the main reasons for the de-briefing, or so the Ex-Ozzies thought, was to catch up Zechs, Heero, and Trowa on the amazing discovery they had found in their patient/rescued, Duo. They also needed to discuss the plans for their next mission.

With the addition of three more people, more chairs needed to be brought to the communications/debriefing room, as it had been dubbed. Zechs had been filled in by Sally and Noin, about the group's thoughts on the patient. He was skeptical about it being anything other than genetic manipulation but was still willing to hear out any reasons to the contrary. The rebels assumed that Wufei and Quatre had filled in Trowa and Heero of their discussion from the other day, but with Duo's reaction to Heero, they had a feeling the explanations would be mostly for the uni-banged pilot.

While everyone was eager to find out if Duo really was a merman, or if it was genetic manipulations… among all their other questions, no one was quite sure how to begin the question answer session. Quatre felt those feelings and decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Duo, the others would like to know, and I would like to confirm what I'm almost assured of, are you the result of genetic manipulations or are you a true merman?"

Duo's eyes widened at the thought of being an experiment and almost said as much, when a nudge from Heero stopped those particular comments before they left his mouth. The two mermen shared a look before Duo grinned and turned to the others with, "I am not, nor was I _ever_ a real boy." (1)

Heero snorted.

The others, obviously missing the joke, processed that bit of information. There was an almost universal moment in the room, when everyone got onto the same page, and realized that Duo was one hundred percent mythical merman.

The Gundam pilots all watched, with varying degrees of amusement crossing their features; which was something the other rebels all noticed very quickly.

"You knew already!" Noin was the first to recover from the shock. She mock glared at the pilots. However it had very little effect.

"I may have mentioned it prior to lunch…" Duo looked over the rebels innocently.

"So, were you the one creating all those problems for the Alliance and OZ underwater mobile suit programs?" Zechs, who still hadn't seen any tangible proof, but was still willing to believe the other rebels on this one, was the first to put Duo's status with the attacks on OZ that he, Noin, and Sally hadn't been responsible for prior to the Gundam's decent to Earth.

Duo just grinned evilly.

The others were happy to move onto other questions.

Sally and Billings were just starting to get the hazy look out of their eyes from the revelation that they had helped heal something/one that defied all laws of science/reality as they knew it. They both started firing off questions at the same time.

"Why were your eyes red in that tank and when Sally shinned that light in your eyes?"

"What is it about the ocean water that heals you?"

"How are you able to walk around like a human?"

"Does it hurt when you make that transformation?"

"Why did you need to drink so much tap water?"

"Why did it seem like you were suffocating in the tub when we were attempting to heal you?"

Duo blinked at the onslaught of questions.

Then from Heero, "Sally shinned a light in your eyes?"

The pilot of Gundam 01 turned the braided merman towards him, effectively stopping the questions from Billings and Sally, and grabbed said merman's chin, looking into his eyes. "Do they hurt at all? Are you having trouble seeing anything? How long was the light in your eyes? What did you do to stop the drying when you got the light away from them?"

Duo blinked again, and decided to answer Heero before he took him out to the ocean to do a more in-depth exam. "No, no, about 5 seconds at the most, and Quatre brought me some tap water…. I used about an 8oz cup… which helped some, but things were still a bit blurry until I got to go in the water the next morning."

Satisfied with those answers, and completely ignoring the looks of astonishment from the rest of the room, Heero continued with his questioning, "What was this about a tub and suffocating?"

Heero looked ready to reach for his gun, if the look in his eyes was any indication. He left go of Duo's chin but moved his hand to his soul-mate's temple, cupping his ear and rubbing his thumb over said temple. Everyone, except Zechs and Trowa who weren't involved in that little incident, looked like they were ready to run for their lives.

"I…uhh… I'm not completely sure about that one either, since I was unconscious at the time. It was right after they rescued me. Something about me being a flight risk if they 'let me go.' Anyway, they filled the tub in the master bed room's bathroom up with ocean water. It worked for a bit… but it wasn't… connected though…. The air wasn't being replenished and it was starting to suffocate me."

Heero turned his glare on the others in the room.

_Everyone_ shrank back from the intensity.

Billings was the first brave soul to speak up, "In our defense…" he gulped as the glare was directed at him, "we didn't know anything about his being a merman or if the ocean water would have any effect at all… if it did we weren't sure he would stay with us… and if it didn't it would've been harder to move him to a location were we had medical supplies available to help him."

"Quatre –"

"He was drained 'ro." Duo's voice brought Heero's attention back to him. Heero wasn't completely happy with the answers he was getting about this. He decided to take a different approach and brought his other hand up to Duo's other temple.

"Heero, you're wounded!" Duo attempted to object, he knew what his soulmate was up to, but it fell on deaf ears.

"You're going to be difficult?" Heero raised an amused eyebrow. Duo grumbled something about over-protective bastards, a staff, and amusing parts of the anatomy that had the women blushing and the men raising their eyebrows. Never the less, he raised his own hands to cover Heero's.

The pair looked each other right in the eye and sat absolutely still.

Everyone else sat in complete shock.

They had no idea what was going on, and were more than a little curious, but they were afraid to say anything, incase they interrupted whatever was happening and risk injuring either participant. Quatre started to look a little worried, and began rubbing his "space heart." Trowa noticed this change in his behavior right away.

"Quatre? What is it?" He spoke up quietly.

"I'm… not sure. It feels odd. But whatever they're doing, it's draining Heero." With that statement, the others started to notice the tiny beads of sweat on 01's head and the slight paling of his skin. However, before they could do anything to break up the pair, said pair blinked.

Duo released one of Heero's hands, which Heero used to move some of his partner's bangs away from his eyes. Their other hands remained clasped between them. Duo moved his chair to Heero's so they were touching and leaned against the blue eyed pilot's side. Duo's other hand snaked around and under the green tank top at Heero's waist.

"Baka," Duo gently admonished the other merman, "you should've waited until you were stronger for that."

"Would you rather I started shooting?" Heero asked with the smallest touch of amusement in his voice. He reached next to his chair, where he had placed the water bottle when he sat down earlier and took a big sip. Duo mirrored his actions, and when both water bottles were placed back on the floor, their hands were re-clasped together.

Sally was the first to put three and five together to get two.

Two _mermen_ to be specific.

Her jaw hit the floor in shock as she looked between the pair of them, each of whom starred back with open amusement in their eyes.

Zechs, Noin, Snider and Billings looked between the 3 other Gundam pilots who didn't seem as confused as the rest of them, the pair starring at Sally with amusement in their eyes, and Sally.

"What the hell is going on here!"

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**Author's note**: In reguard to this cliify, believe me when I say this is the lesser of the two evils…. (This comment will make more sense when I post part **B** of this little chapter) hehe….

**(1)** Pinocchio anyone? (For those that miss/missed the subtle foreshadowing in this little line, please go back and re-read the chapter where Duo and Howard get into the big argument over Duo being called "**kid.**"… I think its chapter three….)


	10. Out of the frying pan and into the fire

Title: A Fishy Adventure 7b/??

Author: Little Angel +

Disclaimer: I own not GW…. Tis sad…

Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, other?

_Last Time…_

_Duo released one of Heero's hands, which Heero used to move some of his partner's bangs away from his eyes. Their other hands remained clasped between them. Duo moved his chair to his and Heero's were touching and leaned against his side. Duo's other hand snaked around and under the green tank top at Heero's waist. _

"_Baka," Duo gently admonished the other merman, "you should've waited until you were stronger for that."_

"_Would you rather I started shooting?" Heero asked with the smallest touch of amusement in his voice. He reached next to his chair, where he had placed the water bottle when he sat down earlier and took a big sip. Duo mirrored his actions, and when both water bottles were placed back on the floor, their hands were re-clasped together._

_Sally was the first to put three and five together to get two._

_Two **mermen** to be specific._

_Her jaw hit the floor in shock as she looked between the pair of them, each of whom starred back with open amusement in their eyes._

_Zechs, Noin, Snider and Billings looked between the 3 other Gundam pilots who didn't seem as confused as the rest of them, the pair starring at Sally with amusement in their eyes, and Sally._

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"What the hell is going on here?!"

Snider's statement of complete bafflement seemed to do two things. The first, send Duo into fits of howling laughter, and the second, draw Sally out of her own state of disbelief and shock to start shooting off questions and theories at an amazing rate, which in turn just made Duo laugh even harder.

"What was that thing that the two of you just did? Do you have some kind of telepathic connection? Is that how you communicate when underwater? I wonder how much more advanced your minds must be for that to happen….. Is it possible for you to communicate like that to others? Is that how Quatre knew you could speak even though you weren't talking? Do you also have empathic abilities like him? Heero!!! How were you able to survive in space!? Don't you need to be near the ocean? Couldn't you dehydrate being so far away from your home? How did you handle it? Did your contacts know about you? Wait!! Is that how you survived that explosion?!?" Sally looked like she wanted to pull the two mermen into a lab and start running tests. She would've kept up her questioning, however, the gleam in her eyes sobered up Duo's laughter and both sea creatures began looking a little uncomfortable.

Heero, not liking the way Sally was starting to look at them, turned on his warning glare, tightening his hold on Duo's hand.

Duo squeezed his hand back and also started glaring at Sally. Sally, noticed the wide range of looks she was getting from everyone present, going from shock, to amusement, to anger, to the warning look from Quatre and the mermen. She cut off her questioning and held her hands up in a surrender position.

"Sorry, my mind started to get carried away with the possibilities. This was just a huge shock and it defies all the laws of nature! You guys don't need to answer all of those questions, no matter how much I would love for you to. And I promise I will not be pulling anyone into a lab to start experimenting or running tests… unless it is to check on your health."

The mermen nodded and lessened their glares. The room suddenly became much less tense, as everyone became aware of how much they expected some type of fight to break out. A universal sigh left everyone's mouths and shoulder's sagged in relief. Duo raised an amused eyebrow, but didn't start laughing again and neither rebel made any move to answer any of her questions.

During Sally's rapid question session, the other ex-Oz rebels began putting the pieces of the puzzle together and realized what Sally had realized first.

Zechs was the first to pose a question, one that Trowa had also asked Heero upon his waking from his coma. "Why are the two of you fighting in a human war if you are not human?"

Heero gave him an answer much like the one he gave Trowa, "The Earth is as much our home as it is yours. We just happen to live in a different part of it, a part that humans have always been trying to conquer. We are fighting to keep our home in the oceans safe just as much as you are fighting to keep the colonies and the Earth safe."

Billings was the next to pose a question and being a doctor he was concerned about he other rebel's health (part fish or no), "What was that thing you guys just did? And what did you mean Heero wasn't strong enough, will he be alright?"

Duo was the one to answer that question, "In our mer-forms we are empathic just like Quatre. And as he mentioned before, when you were doing your rescue mission, I was able to sense your presence and help guide you to my location."

Duo glanced over at Heero before continuing with, "But as humans, our empathy is cut off, unless we are joining hands with the human we are attempting to read. What Heero did was basically read my emotions on certain things that happened in the last few days."

This wasn't exactly what happened, but emotions were being read, so Duo didn't feel too bad about misleading the others. Quatre had a feeling Duo was leaving things out because they had talked telepathically when Duo was recovering in the ocean and had kept him from having a panic attack. But the blonde pilot also knew that their communication was another thing the couple wasn't keen on sharing with humans. Their kind was a mystery as it was, and they were definitely not about to give up all their secrets to a race that's been trying to take over their world for who knows how long.

"Our next question, if everyone is done with the 'interrogation' of Duo and Heero," Wufei looked pointedly at Sally and Billings, who only looked slightly put out that they needed to stop their questioning, "Is to figure out our next move."

"Was everyone at that base destroyed or inactivated in some way, shape or form?" Trowa, who was with Heero during the rescue mission wanted to make sure they wouldn't be getting surprise visits from 'mad scientists' so to speak.

Zechs answered with, "When we started the attack with the Gundams, we kept clear of the research center and cell blocks, which were located in the same building and focused on the hangers and barracks. Because it was more of a research center than anything else, there was a smaller amount of workable mobile suits to retaliate against us. We did a heat scan when we were finished the attack and checked for any casualties but both scans came back negative. Rashid and I also did not catch anyone trying to escape the base during the attack."

"Quatre? Sally? Did you leave any survivors?" Trowa knew how much the doctors and Quatre hated killing, but in cases like this it was a necessity of war.

Sally shook her head negatively. "The scientists were taken out by Snider and me as well as the guards in front of the main door to the room Duo was in."

Quatre also answered with a negative, "Billings and I had to enter the observation room through the ventilation system and we took out the guards that were in there from the vents. The only door we saw after a quick scan was the one leading into the main room."

Something about Quatre's answer bothered Duo for a reason he couldn't pinpoint. There was something off about the lack of doors in that observation room. Being in a large tank for his stay at the research base didn't leave him much room for playing games like hide and seek with the soldiers, or causing other such mischief, but he still had his empathy and telepathy because he was in the water.

/Why do I get the feeling we are missing something about that room…. / Duo thought back to the time he spent in the tank from the moment he woke up and realized he wasn't in the ocean. /There had been a couple of humans in that room right away… but only two left through the door into the main room, though at different times. While I was awake anyway. What if they came and went while I was drugged into sleep? No…. there were times when I was awake for a long time and there seemed to be someone in that room… "But they didn't go through the door!" /

Duo shot up straight in his chair as he stated/thought, "But they didn't go through the door!" Not realizing he had finished his thought out loud, Duo got up, letting go of Heero's hand in the process, and started pacing behind the chairs they were sitting on.

He was muttering something about ventilation systems apparently being the newest fad in OZ base development.

All other conversation stopped at Duo's seemingly random outburst, and Heero's warning bells started going off when Duo voluntarily let go of his hand to start pacing. Something was definitely wrong with the braided merman, but nobody was sure what that was… even his soul mate.

Quatre could feel concern and worry rolling off of Heero in waves, at Duo's behavior, which sent off alarms for the blonde as well. "Duo? Is everything alright?"

Duo paused momentarily in his pacing and turned to the others. "Billings, Quatre, are you absolutely sure there was no others doors in that observation room, other than the on leading into the main lab?"

Both rebels thought a moment about the question, racking their brains as they reviewed what they remembered about the room and the layouts. After a moment they both shook their heads negatively. "The only other thing in the room was a set of two filing cabinets against the back wall."

Duo glanced around the room at everyone and noticed he had their attention, "I feel like we are missing something about that base. There were times when I was in the tank that I felt a presence in that observation room, however no one had gone into it through the door in the main room."

Noin posed a question, "Are you sure it wasn't from something they were doing in their… experiments like messing with your emotions or causing hallucinations?"

Duo shook his head, "No, they were unaware of how much intelligence I had, and had no idea of my empathy because I was very careful about hiding it. Also, none of them had any empathy (in more ways than one) so they wouldn't know what to look for if I used it on them in any way." He looked at them with the utmost innocent expression….again.

Heero snorted and everyone could almost see the halo over Duo's head as he admitted that.

And again, nobody bought the look for a minute. A few of them were even kind of glad the mermen were on their side and not Oz's at this point.

Duo seemed to be guessing at their thoughts and grinned.

Heero was the first to get back on track, since he was more familiar with his koi's antics and "unique" sense of humor. "Do we have a blue print of the base and the surrounding areas?"

Snider spoke for the first time since his other outburst earlier even as he gathered the blue prints in question, "We went over it backwards and forwards when we were planning the mission, and there was obviously no indication of any type of secret passage way into or out of that room. Not that I doubt you Duo; I'm just stating what we went over when we were planning and such."

"Let's assume there was a secret passage leading into that room. The question is, where would it lead to and from and would it take anyone off base undetected?" Zechs was already scanning the perimeter of the base and the surrounding area looking for a spot that would seem likely to be an outlet for a passage.

Everyone gathered around the maps and began searching around with him. There was some muttering every once and a while when they thought they found something important, but other than that they kept looking. Heero suddenly shot up from his seat and turned towards the door.

"Heero?" Quatre's question barely stopped him.

"Laptop," was all the blue eyed pilot said in response.

A universal "ah" left everyone's mouths.

When he returned, Zechs and Wufei joined him in searching the surrounding area and pulling up any earlier plans they could on the Oz base. Aside from a very uncharacteristic whistle from Zechs at Heero's hacking skills and overall computer abilities, the next hour was spent in relative silence.

When everyone started to get more an a little frustrated, Heero finally made a break through. "Duo, do you remember ever seeing the commander of the base?"

The blue eyed pilot turned his laptop screen around so everyone could take a look at what, or more importantly, whose file was open.

Everyone looked over the main bits of information on the file, before looking over to the other side of the screen to look over the picture.

_Name: _**Jonas Sebastian**

_Rank: _**Commander**

_Age: _**35**

_Date of Birth:_ **June 21, AC 160**

_Status:_ **Military Leave **

There was nothing note-while about his photo that stood out to any of the ex-Ozzie's or the Gundam pilots. He had dark brown hair, cut slightly longer than the official crew cut and very dark brown eyes, bordering on black. His face had a wind worn yet tan look about it, like he grew up on or around salty waters.

The file went on to talk about his awards and accomplishments as well as give brief descriptions of the centers or ports under his command. It turned out that he was a very good soldier. He had some of the highest recommendations, top grades in the Academy, and some of the highest military metals one could get, second only to one Trieze Kushrenada. He also seemed to be a big supporter of Oz's underwater mobile suite production and a naval fleet commander to boot.

Zechs whistled when as he read the file. "I believe he was the one in the Academy that Trieze always told me he was trying to top."

Noin caught his eye and winked. Zechs smiled at a memory, as Noin had done something similar during their time climbing the Oz ranks.

"Is that our guy?" Snider seemed to be considering how this could be the officer they were looking for, since Duo had yet to name him as the base's commanding officer.

Many suspicions were confirmed when Duo stated, "I never saw the commander's face, but I can attempt some things later to locate him."

"Heero?" Quatre prompted Heero enlighten them all when it looked like the Wing pilot was waiting for them.

"Hn. I hacked the Oz files looking for potential officers and his name was one of the ones that came up fitting the criteria we are looking for. He's been on military leave for almost a month now, his last official posting was commander of a submarine that specialized in the Cancer's underwater repairs, and his submarine just happened to be in the area of Duo's last mission."

"All of that is pretty convincing information. Does that make him our guy?" Noin seemed to be processing all of the said information the fastest and came to the conclusion, "and does that mean we missed one? There must be more to this base than meets the eye."

Ever one for a mystery, Snider posed the next question, "Where you able to find anything on the base itself?"

Wufei shook his head in answer, "It was apparently abandon in AC 190 because of huge base wide computer malfunction. It was already old and the government didn't want to spend the money to get it up to code."

Everyone looked over at Duo, who just raised his hands in the universal sign of surrender and shook his head, "It wasn't me!! I swear!"

Sally, Zechs, and Noin also declined any knowledge of an attack.

"Maybe what we need," Billings chimed in, "is an up-close visual of the base. Poke around the area surrounding it, maybe look through the rubble and see what comes up. We might figure out how someone might've escaped or if there are any clues as to who this commander could be."

The question now was who would go? Not to mention the fact that Wufei and Zechs' Gundam's needed to be repaired, restocked and refueled, from their part of the rescue.

Everyone looked at each other and started talking at once about who should go where and where those places actually were. Finally, to get everyone's attention, Noin let out a shrill whistle, (the kind where you use two fingers).

All noise in the room stopped and all eyes turned to Noin, "Thank you. Now, before we all get into some kind of fight over this, we should decide where we are taking Zechs' and Wufei's suits. Zechs, I'm not sure how much you are going to like this… but I think we should take the suits to the Sanq Kingdom –" Heero's right eye twitched, but only Duo caught the slight movement.

"No." The artic winds were apparently residing within Zechs from the chilled tone of his answer.

Everyone else in the room backed away a few steps and let the two Ex-Ozzie's duke it out over the base. Duo and Wufei shared a look, both thinking about taking bets on who would win the argument.

"And why not?" Noin, it seemed, was not at all perturbed by Zechs' tone and was quite capable of glaring very efficiently. Not quit up to Heero's everyday glare, but a very close second. "The facilities there are completely stocked enough to fix both Gundams, Relena is unaware of it's existence, and YOU even mentioned that it was high time someone started acting as a body guard for her, now that she knows her heritage as the Sanq Princess and is trying to rebuild the Kingdom."

As Zechs was unsure of how much the Gundam Pilots knew about his past and being formally known as Milliardo Peacecraft, the long lost Sanq Prince and heir to the thrown, there was very little he could respond with and not reveal too much about himself in the process. Even Sally didn't know the whole story, which was the way he wanted it.

He settled for upping his glare a notch above Noin's and simply stating, "You know exactly why I don't wish to go back there."

Noin raised an eye brow, "Yes I do. And YOU know that I think you are being a big baby about this whole thing!"

Duo, Sally, Billings and Snider, found that rather amusing and were unable to hold in said amusement without letting a couple of chuckles out first.

Quatre and Wufei, who were of a wealthy family upbringing, covered their amusement with polite coughing or a head turn and snort. Trowa's and Heero's lips twitched upwards, but that was the only change to be seen outwardly. Empathically, Quatre could feel their amusement, which just added to his own.

"Since Zechs has a problem with returning to the Sanq Kingdom at this time, maybe he should go with the team going to the base?" Quatre's question stopped Zechs from making a comment he would definitely regret saying later, especially when Noin would've been drowning him.

"What about my Gundam and it's repairs?" Just like the Gundam Pilots, Zechs wasn't too happy about leaving his Gundam in the hands of others, especially when it needed to be worked on.

Noin muttered something under her breath about boys and their toys, but no body seemed to be listening to her, instead all eyes had turned to Heero at his declaration of, "Duo could pilot it and help with the repairs."

Said violet eyed merman was leaning against the wall where he had earlier used as support to catch his breath at hearing Zechs be called a "big baby." He had an eye brow raised and a smirk on his lips when everyone turned to look at him after Heero.

"I thought you were only trained in land and sea infiltration and explosives?" Wufei recalled that coming up at some point earlier that day and voiced his concern out loud while Zechs processed that bit of information.

Duo, who was still a little miffed about the sword incident that morning, just nodded in return to the inquiry and helpfully added, "Don't forget stealth."

His smirk grew and mischief began to dance in his eyes as the rest of them tried to work out how he would be piloting and repairing a Gundam when he apparently never had any experience with the machines.

Zechs fought the urge to rub his temples at the possibilities they were discussing. He also wasn't about to ask the other pilots to take care of his Gundam either. He felt it was his responsibility, as the pilot, to keep it in repair after all.

"Why don't we establish who is going where to do what, THEN figure out what to do about the Gundam." Sally broke the rising tension as everyone focused on who would go where.

After much debating, arguing, and one, "He could use the practice" comment about Duo being the one to pilot Zechs' Gundam, it was decided that Heero, Duo, Wufei, Trowa, Noin and Billings would go to the Sanq Kingdom to start repairs on the Gundams as well as prep the base for the arrival of more forces. Zechs, Quatre, and Snider would stake out the base and look for any lose ends in regard to trap doors, secret passages, or random OZ personnel wondering the area. Sally would go to the Oz rebel's old base and begin the evacuation of the troops to the Sanq Kingdom as quickly as possible.

To take care of the security measures it needed to move the Gundams to Sanq as well as get to the destroyed base undetected, Heero would wire the satellite feeds to loop according to where the rebels were in reaching their destination. It would take about one day for him to complete the task, and it required that no one left the house under ANY circumstances for the duration of the time it took.

When the loop was in place, everyone would have one hour to get their planes in the air and out of the area before the loop moved into the next areas. In essence, to anyone on the ground looking up at the planes, it would be like watching ghosts floating. There would be a sighting of it, but there would be no pictures or video detailing the plane's path. But since most of the travel would be taking place in the dead of night, there would be very little chance of someone of a high enough risk to cause the rebels problems.

This was especially important because of Relena's claims of wanting Total Pacifism for the world. It wouldn't look go to if during the day she was making speeches of peace, and at the same time having Gundams brought to a base right under the mansion she was living in.

With all of that taken care of, the rather long debriefing was disbanded and everyone went their separate ways, being very careful to stay in the house at all times. The three leader Oz rebels went to talk about what would go where from the old base, Wufei went off to clean his sword, and Quatre and Trowa went off to be on their own…somewhere in the house.

Snider and Billings went to ask Duo about how he would be able to pilot the Gundam when he had no experience with them, outside of the Cancers.

Duo's only response was to stand up straight, and in a strong confident voice proclaim, "I had a dream. A dream that one day a merman and men would be able to pilot Mobile Suits together in harmony…ack! Heero!!"

Anything else he was going to say was cut off as Heero grabbed his braid and dragged him away from the horribly confused pair of Ozzie rebels.

Time moved forward, in a way it has a habit of doing and all too soon it was time for the group to take their leave from the safe house. Heero was able to successfully begin the loop, despite his apparent tiredness from the injuries he still had. Everyone had stayed up that night with 01's pilot, so they wouldn't be sluggish the next evening when they would be taking their leave.

It was about one o'clock in the morning when everything was finally in place and everyone was about to leave. Duo and Heero would be swimming, for obvious reasons, to Sanq and would meet to the plane carrying the others at the base. Relena would not be told of their presence, which pleased Heero immensely, but he refused to admit that out loud.

Heero was standing on the rocks surrounded by ocean on three sides, as he waited for the plane to take off so he could also take his leave. He was supervising the others incase they needed assistance in the take off. Duo was waiting on the beach with Sally, who would be driving to another location then taking a plane to the old base.

Zechs, Quatre and Billings had taken off ten minutes prior, as scheduled and were already in the air on their way to the Oz Base. The Sanq planes still had about five minutes before they could leave safely, so everyone was counting down the time as patiently as possible and going through the pre-flight procedures.

Trowa and Noin would be flying, and had a clear view of Heero on his place on the rocks in case they needed to communicate with him.

So it was with great surprise for everyone who could see it, when a very large, very dark blob like creature shot out of the water, smashed right into a still injured Heero and pushed him into the ocean, following the same path as him in its own decent into the water.

---End Chapter 7 ---

Happy Holidays everyone!! Please let me know what you thought of the chapter! More to come… next year… . 


	11. Suprise, Suprise!

Title: A Fishy Adventure 8/??

Author: Little Angel

Disclaimer: I own not GW…. Tis sad…

Pairings: 1&2, 3&4, other?

_/THIS/ thoughts_

_"THIS" regular dialogue_

_/'THIS'/ telepathy _

_Last time…._

_Zechs, Quatre and Billings_ _had taken off ten minutes prior, as scheduled and were already in the air on their way to the Oz Base. The Sanq planes still had about five minutes before they could leave safely, so everyone was counting down the time as patiently as possible and going through the pre-flight procedures._

_Trowa and Noin would be flying, and had a clear view of Heero on his place on the rocks in case they needed to communicate with him. _

_So it was with great surprise for everyone who could see it, when a very large, very dark blob like creature shot out of the water, smashed right into a still injured Heero and pushed him into the ocean, following the same path as him in its own decent into the water._

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Child's P.O.V.

Year: A.C 164

Location: A small town located on the beaches of the Sanq Kingdom

"Grandpa!! Grandpa!! Father is going to be arriving today!" A small boy with wind blown brown hair and eyes was dancing around on the docks, anxiously watching the seas in hopes of seeing his father or the ship he was sailing on. The boy loved the smell and sights of the ocean air and the feel of the cool breeze blowing in from the ocean. An elderly man with wind blown white hair was slowly walking up behind him, watching to make sure the boy didn't fall.

"Jonas, be careful on these docks! A strong wind will blow you into the ocean and I'm not sure I will be able to pull you back out of the water!"

The little boy just nodded and looked back at his grandpa with big hopeful eyes, "But the mermaids will save me right? They wouldn't let me drown would they??" Grandpa had told him stories about the fanciful creatures of the sea, and how they guarded the vast underwater kingdom from the land dwellers. His father didn't believe the stories though, and would say as much whenever he heard grandpa telling them.

A passing sailor heard the boy's plea about the mermaids and started laughing, "Hear now laddie! There ain't such a thing as mermaids! Those are just legends and fairy tales! If you fell in the water one of us would have to go in after you! And these waters are deep! Even here, under the docks."

The boy pouted and looked over to his grandpa, who just smiled and him and winked. Jonas smiled back and went back to his vigil over the waves. If his grandpa said it was true, he would believe the mermaids existed and would save him if he fell into the water. He was so happy to be able to see his father again after so many months out at sea. He wondered if he would get the chance to ask him if he saw any mermaids out there watching over his ship.

Forgetting the earlier warning, he got up onto his tiptoes in hopes of seeing farther out, still standing on the very edge of the dock. Sure enough he lost his balance and fell into the water head first just as a wave was approaching.

"Jonas!!" The grandfather was able to swim, but he was too old to attempt to pull the boy out of the water. The sailor from earlier ran past him and jumped into the water after the boy.

However the boy was unaware of any of this. As he was falling into the water he breathed in, in panic, and swallowed a huge amount of salt water. As he was pulled under the small wave his world started to go black around the fear and panic. His last thought was /Why aren't the mermaids coming to save me…?/

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Year: A.C. 195

Location: Carriage riding to the Romefellar Foundation's main mansion of operations.

Jonas Sebastian woke with a start, breathing heavily as his carriage hit a rather large bump in the road. He had been having flashbacks of his childhood ever since he was able to catch that mermaid with his submarine. It brought back memories that he would much rather forget. /So grandfather was telling the truth about the mermaids. Interesting. /

The OZ Commander sat patiently in the carriage as he awaited his meeting with one of the Romefellar Foundation's most influential members. The Gundam pilots weren't as backed into a corner as they had originally intended, which meant there would be the possibility of more trouble to come soon. Jonas was bothered by the fact that the pilots were at the base, especially when the base technically wasn't in operation. The personnel all stationed there were put on "military leave" for one reason or another and the order for the base's operation didn't even go officially through the whole Romefellar Foundation.

/There is more going on here than I originally thought…/ perhaps he could convince his superior to give him command of the underwater base being built near the Sanq Kingdom's ocean territory- for protective reasons only of course. It was his subtle maneuvering that got the process started on that base, and he wanted to be in charge of combing the area for anything of interest… It was, after all, where his grandfather had had his encounter with the not so mythical sea creature.

As the carriage pulled up to the drive, Jonas has a small smile on his face. It was time to share what he'd found with his supervisor and begin to shed light on something that had plagued his memories far longer than he ever wanted. /And to prove my old man wrong… Once and for all./

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**Meanwhile…back at the Safehouse….**

Heero was standing on the rocks surrounded by ocean on three sides, as he waited for the plane to take off so he could also take his leave. He was supervising the others incase they needed assistance in the take off. Duo was waiting on the beach with Sally, who would be driving to another location then taking a plane to the old base.

Zechs, Quatre and Billings had taken off ten minutes prior, as scheduled and were already in the air on their way to the Oz Base. The Sanq planes still had about five minutes before they could leave safely, so everyone was counting down the time as patiently as possible and going through the pre-flight procedures.

Trowa and Noin would be flying, and had a clear view of Heero on his place on the rocks in case they needed to communicate with him.

So it was with great surprise for everyone who could see it, when a very large, very dark blob like creature shot out of the water, smashed right into a still injured Heero and pushed him into the ocean, following the same path as him in its own decent into the water.

Sally and Noin let our gasps. Sally looked like she was going to go the water after Heero, but giggles from her left stopped her from taking action.

"Friend of yours?" Sally sent a mild glare over at the braided merman.

Aside from continued grinning, Duo just shook his head. "Something like that."

Heero apparently sent an empathic message to Noin and Trowa who continued with their take off, even though he didn't come up from under water. "K, Sally, that's your cue to take off as well! We'll see you in Sanq soon."

Sally nodded and started off for the trees and her transportation. She heard a splash when she was into the tree line and turned to see nothing on the beach. Not even foot prints to show there were people there recently. She chuckled and continued her walk.

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Heero saw the blob at the last second, and unfortunately had no chance of dodging the enormous mass. Once he hit the water and transformed into his mer-form he realized at once who, or what the blob was. He sent a quick empathic message to Noin and a telepathic message to Trowa that he was fine and felt the plane begin take off above him.

Feeling the healing powers of the ocean enter his bruised body, he turned his attention to the sea creature swimming around him. It turned out to be an Orca, or Killer Whale. Many of these creatures where thought to be extinct in the human world, but Heero knew better.

When the creature was getting close to extinction long ago, the king of mer-people went out into the normal waters and brought the creatures to the sanctuary of the mer-people home. The whales began to flourish again without the threat that humans caused them and turned out to be a valuable member of the mer-people community.

For one of these whales to be out in the open again, meant only one thing. Heero began speaking with the whale and sure enough the king knew about Duo's plan of action. The whale had been asked to help Hilde find the pair of them so a message could be delivered. When Duo had been in the ocean a few days prior he had made himself known to the pair looking for him. The whale, when he had sensed Heero so near by, couldn't help himself from getting him back into the water for a proper chat.

/'Hello there friend, where's Hilde?'/

/'Hiding her aura from you and Duo and hoping for the opportunity to surprise the braided enigma.'/ The whale answered back using his song and pointed with his fin to Hilde's hiding spot.

Heero chuckled and decided to help Hilde with her plan. With a smirk he said/'I'll help make sure he's distracted.'/

A few moments later the pair was joined by the prince himself, who immediately went to check to see if Heero was healed properly. /'Hee-chan!!'/

The fact that the pair of soul mates were together in the ocean again, meant their bond could open to its full potential. Heero immediately went to Duo and opened a connection like he had done in the briefing room a few days before. Duo did the same for him and soon both of them were completely caught up with what the other had been doing since the last time they could do this.

After a time of separation between soul-mated mer-people meant that the pair had access to each other's emotions, thoughts, and memories if they desired because of the elongated separation. Most mer-people had little need to use this connection since many of them didn't like wandering the human world, especially when they knew what happened to their bond in their human form.

But for Heero and Duo, the connection was crucial for whenever Heero went on a mission for the king to the human world. It helped stabilize him when he returned to his world and gave Duo a sense of what was happening with his koibito when he was away. Duo could still communicate with Heero, since he was still underwater, but Heero wouldn't be able to respond. It would also make it harder for Heero to complete whatever he was sent to do because he would be reminded of Duo whenever the braided mer-man chose to communicate. In the end the pair would just wait until Heero returned to access the emotions, memories and thoughts, even though Duo still monitored him through their bond. It was hard on them both, but it needed to be done for the safety of their kind.

They both winced when they pulled apart and moved into a bone crushing huge. Physical contact wasn't necessary in this form for them, but at the moment they both needed the contact and reassurance the other was alive.

/'Come on Koi, we need to get to Sanq.'/ Heero reluctantly pulled away after a couple minutes, but still held onto his soul-mate's hand.

They had just rounded the corner of the rocks when/'DUO! YOUR FATHER IS GOING TO KILL YOU!'/, Hilde swam out from behind said rocks and tackled Duo.

/'AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH'/ Duo let out a loud girlish shriek, which he would later deny ever happened and attempted to get away from Hilde's tac… tender loving hug.

Heero was chortling merrily along with their whale companion.

Duo glared at him- then /'Ahhahahaha…Hilde…so nice to see you…again.'/

Hilde released him and put her hands on her hips/'don't you 'Hilde' me! The whole kingdom was up in arms when you left! I had to stop your father from coming to the surface with an army after you!'/

Duo winced/'Ah, sorry about that. You weren't in trouble were you?'/

Her glare intensified a notch/'you mean for aiding and abiding your escape? When your father told you specifically you weren't to go to the human world!?! That kind of trouble?!?'/

Duo looked sheepish and gave her his wounded puppy eyes/'you know why I had to do it though! I'm sorry you got in trouble…but you should also know I would do it again if I had to.'/

Hilde sighed and dropped her hands/'I know. And it took some convincing but your father and the council now knows that too.'/

She paused then added with a small grin/'you owe me BIG mister!'/

Duo grinned back and hugged her properly this time. /'Thanks Hil.'/

When they pulled apart, Hilde turned her attention to Heero, who was floating patiently next to the pair watching the interaction with some amusement. /'Heero, it's good to see you're alright.'/

/'Hilde.'/ Heero nodded to her/'Come on, we need to get going toward Sanq. You're welcome to come with us for the journey.'/

The four companions started off towards Sanq, but Hilde was also carrying some bad news.

/'I have news from the king. The humans are in the process of building an underwater base…a little to close to home. The counsel would like you two to take care of it, if you could… discreetly.'/

The pair shared a look then as one turned back to Hilde and nodded their acceptance. Heero voiced a thought/'could you ask the king to grant us use of some ankle bracelets? It's important and we can get some extra aid on this mission with them.'/

Hilde looked skeptical but asked anyway/'I'll ask the counsel but I'm not sure if they would be willing to give any more. How many would you need?'/

/'Eight – if possible. If not, as many as they would be willing to give us.'/ Heero said in all seriousness.

Hilde's eyes went wide and the whale sang a slightly worried note/'Are you crazy!'/ Heero just raised an eyebrow at her.

She sighed/'I'll ask but I can't guarantee anything, but I'll see what they'll let you have.'/

The rest of the trip was spent in comfortable silence between the four underwater companions.

Duo, who had been thinking mostly through the exchange between Heero and Hilde, finally spoke up when they were almost to Sanq. /'I can handle this Gundam of Zechs' if it's like yours.'/

Heero looked over at him/'the scientists who created Zechs' Gundam separated in space and built their own Gundams. So you should be able to pilot it. There were five of them, so when we finish with Sanq and this underwater base, perhaps we should go into space and get you a Gundam?'/

Through the exchange between Heero and Hilde, Duo had been analyzing the memories he'd gained from Heero earlier about how to pilot and fight in a Gundam, as well as keeping it in repair. It was a lot of information to sort through, but Duo had some time before he would need to use most of it, with exception of taxi-ing the Gundam off the plane.

Duo grinned at the prospect of getting a Gundam of his own, but was slightly wary of going so far away from the ocean. Heero, sensing his anxiety, gave his hand a squeeze and left the offer open.

When the quad reached the Sanq kingdom's waters, Hilde and the Killer Whale broke away from the soul mates and headed back towards their home. Duo and Heero continued onto the cliff on Sanq's ocean cliff, so they could climb up onto the rocks and activate the door for the plane to taxi into when it arrived.

As they climbed onto the cliff's ledge closest to the water, they started their short climb up the mountain. Half way to their destination they heard a very disturbing sound... "HHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! COOOOOOOME KIIIIILLLLLLLL MMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

The pair glanced up to the top of the cliff, and barely noticed someone standing on the edge, with long hair and what looked to be a skirt blowing in the wind. The pair exchanged a nervous glance and started climbing a little faster to get to the safety of the secret base. Heero had a slight twitch in his eye as they climbed….

---End Chapter 8---

Author's Note: I apologize for the huge length of time between this update and the last one… My computer's been dying a slow and painful death and I haven't had the money to get a new one or the time to really sit down and write a chapter for this. Hopefully the next update won't take so long. I also hope this chapter helped answer some of your questions about the story…

Author's Note 2: Sorry, I couldn't resist throwing that bit on at the end...


End file.
